Dragon Ball Z: Ripple Effect
by treeger
Summary: AU: When Trunks is not the one that goes back in time to warn the Z fighters of the Androids, someone else has to! What one change in events leads to in the rest of the Dragon Ball story. I do not own Dragon Ball Z, I'm just someone with way too much free time and an internet connection.
1. Chapter 1

The Ripple Effect

Gohan could barely open his eyes. The androids had completely overtaken him and Trunks. Before the fight Gohan had tried to stop Trunks from coming along, but the younger Saiyan had come to fight with his mentor anyways. Finally Gohan managed to lift an eyelid. The androids hovered above the two fallen warriors, Seventeen's hand outstretched towards them.

"So do we finish them today sister?" the dark-haired boy asked. His sister, Eighteen, wore a denim vest and skirt that covered her black undershirt and leggings and had cowgirl boots to finish the outfit. Her brother wore a white long-sleeved shirt covered by a black short sleeve one with a red-ribbon insignia on it. Blue jeans and green socks covered his legs and blue sneakers finished off his motley assortment. Eighteen thought for a second before answering her sibling.

"No, they're way too much fun to mess around with. Let's leave 'em for later." She answered. Seventeen nodded and the two rocketed away. Gohan let out a sigh of relief before his eye fell on Trunks laying a few feet away from him. He wasn't moving and Gohan could barely sense any ki coming from him. _No! I need to save him!_ He couldn't feel his left arm at all. With his right arm he reached over to grab the senzu bean pouch. all his fingers felt though was skin. The pouch had been incinerated along with part of his gi during the onslaught of blasts the androids had thrown at the half saiyans.

"Trunks..." Gohan managed to say as he slowly sank back into the dark of unconsciousness.

* * *

It was two years after Goku had beaten Frieza. His friends and family waited for him to return from space everyday. His son sat at his desk in their little house. Chi Chi made him focus on his studies the last couple years instead of training, but secretly he would sneak out every so often at night and spar with Piccolo in the forest. Currently he sat with his head in his hands staring at a math problem that had been in front of him for the last thirty minutes. Finally he circled his answer, x=7.

All Gohan could think of was the food Chi Chi was making for lunch. He could smell the fish cooking on the stove and Chi Chi's spicy ramen. Gohan could barely keep his mind on the homework. Suddenly a large ki signature sparked on his mental radar.

"Dad!" Gohan's head shot up. Then he noticed that it wasn't the pure innocent ki of his father, but a corrupt, evil power. The phone rang just as Gohan was wondering who it was so he leapt over and answered it.

"Gohan it's Krillin! Did you feel that power?" The bald monk asked over the telephone.

"Yeah! Did you recognize it?"

"Freeza. We have to go fight him. We won't let him take the Earth without a fight."

"Agreed. I'll meet you there as fast as I can." Gohan hung up the phone and walked over to a chest at the opposite end of the room and opened it. He gazed down at the saiyan armor he had kept from his trip to Namek. He slipped on the blue jumpsuit and then the yellow and white armor. "Mom I'm going out!" Before Chi Chi could answer her son he had flown out the window.

Halfway there he ran into Krillin.

"He guys! Headed for Freeza?" The saiyan asked the monk.

"Yeah, he's almost here, let's get going!" the short monk responded. They flew as fast as they could towards the landing point.

Once they got there the rest of the Z-fighters were gathered already.

"Where is your low-class father boy?" Vegeta spat as soon as he touched down.

"How am I supposed to know Vegeta? I haven't heard from him since Namek either." Gohan shot back. He noticed that no one had donned the armor as he had, Vegeta was in a pink button-up shirt even! Still, every one was ready to put up a fight for the planet they called home. Tien and Chiaotzu landed on the edge of the group, completing the Z crew. Yamcha, Vegeta, Picollo, Krillin, Gohan and Tien, Earth's mightiest fighters assembled for the first time since Vegeta and Nappa's landing. They could all sense Freeza and some other even more massive ki was going to land around a mile to the North of them in a few moments.

"Hey!" A shout came from behind them. Everyone turned to look and find a Capsule Corp plane coming their way.

"Bulma! What is she doing here, that idiot!" Yamcha yelled. Gohan thought that was harsh coming from him. She landed a few yards from them and Puar flew out, then Bulma jumped out in a long-sleeved dress that cut off around mid-thigh. she wore a vest over that and her usual Capsule Corp boots. Unusually her hair was pulled back and curled in the very back to an extreme, almost like an afro.

"What are you doing here?!" Yamcha hollered at her.

"I came to see Freeza!" She yelled back at the martial artist.

"What? Why would you do something so stupid?"

"Hey Freeza's strong enough to destroy this whole planet from space so it doesn't really matter whether I hide or not. Why not come here and watch? Plus I never saw him while I was on Namek!" The blue haired woman shot at Yamcha. Gohan thought he saw a smirk shoot across Vegeta's face for just a split second. They all tensed up as they sensed Freeza get closer and closer.

"Hide your ki signatures now! They have scouters you fools!" Vegeta yelled at everyone. They all suppressed their energy as quick as they could as they saw the distant gleam of light they knew to be Freeza's space ship grow larger. Finally it blasted over their heads and landed just a mile or two West of the Z fighters.

"Let's go, and remember, no flying! They'll pick it upon their scouters if you do." Krillin reminded everyone. They all took off running towards the landing point of Freeza's ship. "So Yamcha, how do you like living with Vegeta?" Krillin added, trying to break the tension but also mocking the warrior.

"Shut up Krillin! He's a scary dude, I'm glad he spends most of his time training!" Yamcha replied.

"I am standing right here you idiots." Vegeta said with a scowl on his face. Just then they all felt a third much more massive power level.

"It's pointless to keep concealing our ki now, if there's a third one we're all done for anyways." Piccolo yelled. Then he took off towards the power levels as fast as he could, followed by Vegeta and then the others. They reached a cliff that overlooked the landing site and stopped to watch. Standing in front of Freeza and his small army was a man wearing an orange and blue gi.

* * *

"Papa it's him! That's Son Goku! That's the Super Saiyan!" The newly mechanized Freeza yelled at his considerably taller father. Freeza had been found floating in space by King Cold. Scientists had worked round the clock to rebuild his body and when they had finally succeeded Cold set a course for Earth to get revenge. In front of him and his small army stood a lone man wearing an orange gi with a blue undershirt. His hair was jet black and spiked on one side.

"Sorry, but you're only half right Freeza." The man replied.

"What? Half right?" The Acrosian shot back.

"I am not Son Goku and he is not the only Super Saiyan."

"What? It can't be! Are you telling me Vegeta is a Super Saiyan?" The shocked Acrosian screamed.

"No, I am."

"Who cares, kill him anyways." The King ordered. One of the front line minions took out his blaster and with his scouter checked the man's power level.

"Power level of 5 my lord, this will be easy." The bearded blue soldier took out his blaster and fired at his target. The mysterious man lifted his hand up and caught the blast on his bare skin. A smirk formed on his mouth.

"My turn now." Without moving a muscle he hit the soldier with a kiai that sent him flying away into a nearby mountain side. It was only then that Freeza paid attention to the man standing in front of him and noticed that he only had one arm.

"Now it's time to reap what you've sown Freeza!" the man leaned towards his right side and began charging energy in his palm. "Kame Hame-"

"Papa that was a move the Super Saiyan used on me!" Freeza managed to get out before the last word was uttered.

"HA!" The one armed man turned and released the energy in a brilliant bright blue ray that engulfed everything in it's path, including Freeza and his men. The man stood and watched as the dust cleared. Slowly a faint clap was audible.

"Good job," As the dust finally settled King Cold dropped back to the ground, still keeping up his clap. "Not many people could kill my son with just one attack. My empire is made of only the strongest rulers. What would you say if I offered you a seat by my side?"

"I would tell you to take that seat and shove it."

"Darn, that's a waste of a good soldier." King Cold sighed as he lunged for the Saiyan standing in front of him. All of his punches and kicks were easily dodged by the skilled fighter. Cold got angrier and angrier as all of his attacks failed. Finally he landed a blow that sent his opponent flying backwards. To his misfortune the man landed on his feet, his index and middle fingers on his forehead.

"King Cold, you're going to pay for all of the people you have wronged." Energy crackled around the two fingers resting on the fighter's forehead. "Here, take this!" He pointed the energy filled fingers at the Acrosian ruler and before he could react a beam shot forth from them that was a vibrant yellow. Another beam circled around it, joining at the front end, making the attack resemble a corkscrew. It shot directly through King Cold's heart, leaving him stunned as the life drained from his body. He coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"N-no, it c-can't be.." The father of Freeza slowly sank to his knees and then fell face first onto the ground, dead.

"Picollo wasn't that your move?" Krillin asked the Namekian warrior. The Z fighters had witnessed everything that had gone on between the unknown fighter and the Cold family. They were all shocked at what had just happened.

"Yes, but how could he possibly know how to use it?" Piccollo was truly stunned for one of the few times in his existence. He had only taught that move once and that was to Gohan when he was a child, and he hadn't been able to get a hold of it.

"Guys he's looking up here!" Bulma yelled. Everyone turned to look down at the warrior who had just felled the most powerful villain they had ever faced. He was waving with his one arm at them.

"Hey guys! I'm waiting for Son Goku! You can join me if you'd like!" His voice boomed up the cliff with a commanding but somehow friendly tone. He threw a capsule that contained a refrigerator and took out a water.

"I want to meet this guy!" Bulma said, curious to meet the man that beat Freeza again.

"He doesn't seem evil at all." Gohan chimed in.

"Something about his ki is very, familiar." Piccollo thought out loud. With the general consensus being that the man wasn't going to harm them they slowly made their way down to him. Once they got closer they noticed more about him, his gi was almost similar to Goku's except for the insignia on it. He had a scar running down the left side of his face, and as they all had figured by now, his left arm was gone.

"Hello, Son Goku should be here in about half an hour or so, seems that his ship picked up speed once it got a little closer to the Earth."

"Enough! How were you able to defeat Freeza so easily when he could wipe out an entire race with just the flick of his finger?" Vegeta yelled, fuming that another person had seemingly surpassed him with relative ease. "Even Kakarot almost died in the fight between him and that monster! How could you finish him off with just one move, not even being a Super Saiyan?"

"Heh," A wide smile crossed the mysterious youth's face as he scratched the back of his head, "ya see I'm just a little bit stronger than you guys are right now."

"It's rude to lie to those seeking honest answers, Gohan." Piccolo said matter-of-factly. All eyes fell on the Namekian standing on the edge of the group with his arms crossed, then to the one-armed man who was now awkwardly laughing.

"What?!" Bulma yelled, voicing the opinion of the rest of the Z fighters as well.

"Haha, shoulda known you would figure it out, so what gave me away Piccolo?"

"Your ki signature is vaguely familiar, you're wearing your father's gi and the only person that I've taught the Special Beam Canon to is Gohan. On top of all that the insignia on your gi is the old Japanese symbol for 'Han' for Kamis sake. That was too many coincidences, you had to be Gohan. The only question now is how the hell are you standing in front of us?"

"Darn, I was hoping that we could wait for dad to get here to tell everyone, but I guess it can't wait now." Gohan took a deep breath. "I am the same as the boy standing next to you guys, except I'm about fifteen years older than him. In two years my father will die of a heart virus, there is no medication for it yet, though a few years later they will be able to create one. About a year after that there will be an attack on South City. Two androids, a boy and a girl, destroy it, kill everyone there, all of us included. I was barely able to escape. They decimate us all, we were completely outclassed." His eyes began to mist. "In the ensuing years they started to wipe out the human race, only about twenty-five percent of us remain alive by most estimates. They decided to make a game out of it after a while, that's why they never killed me off, I'm just a slightly harder game for them to beat, but only slightly."

"After awhile us survivors came up with the idea to send me back in time, warn you about the androids, and more importantly to give you the medication to cure dad. Train for these three years, train harder than you did for Nappa and Vegeta, harder than you did for Freeza. Train as much as you can. The world depends on it."

"Bullshit!" Vegeta screamed. He powered up, showing off how much training he had done in the past couple of years, and charged Gohan of the future. With one swift move Gohan moved to face Vegeta with his left side and caught the Saiyan prince by the throat.

"YOU ARE THE FIRST TO GO, VEGETA!" Gohan yelled, his face now stern and voice commanding. "You foolishly think that you can take them both on at once and they annihilate everything that you are!" Energy began to swell around Gohan as he grew angrier. Suddenly his hair stood on end and turned a bright yellow color. His eyes became a blue-green and his face grew even more stern, his energy created a gust that blew everyone back a half a step, Bulma lost the Scientist monthly magazine that she had been reading before coming to see Freeza to the breeze. Gohan's voice got quieter as he brought Vegeta closer to him. "I could kill you right here and now just by squeezing a little bit, and these androids, they're strong enough to take my left arm from me without even trying."

Gohan released his grip on Vegeta and he slumped to his knees. The prince had an expression of pure shock and sorrow on his face. This was the second time that Piccollo had ever seen Vegeta look so broken, the first being during the fight against Freeza. Everyone was stunned, both by Vegeta's silence and by Gohan's transformation.

"Wow you're pretty strong!" Everyone turned to look behind them all to see a familiar face smiling back at them.

* * *

_Alright that's the end of the first chapter of Ripple Effect! I realize that it was very short and isn't the best grammar-wise, I will possibly come back and fix this later. Please stick with the story a couple more chapters before you decide whether or not to continue reading! Around chapter 5 or 6 Full Power, a great author whose story Second Chance is amazing, started beta-ing for me. Needless to say the writing becomes ten times more bearable and it is just all around better._

_One other note is that from chapter 9, Ripple Effect will update every other Sunday._

_Cya next time!_

_treeger_


	2. Chapter : Not for a thousand years

_Hey everyone! Sorry I forgot to put this in here the other day! Anyways, chapter 2 in now out, as you can tell. Pretty nice fight scene in it I believe. Enjoy!_

"Dad!" Gohan, from the present, yelled, glad to finally see his father again. His father was wearing strange clothing with frills on the edges and a black metal shoulder pad strapped onto another plate covering his chest. Under that he had his regular orange pants and blue boots.

"Hey guys, what's up!" Goku said in his usual cheerful demeanor.

"Father..." The Gohan from the future looked at his saiyan father for the first time in almost twenty years. His eyes began to well up with tears, but after his years of fighting on his own and being the sole protector of Earth his pride wouldn't allow the moisture to go anywhere.

"You look really familiar, do I know you?" Goku directed his question at the future visitor after he had finished greeting all of his friends. Gohan had a solemn smile on his face.

"Yes and no," He replied. "I'm your son from the future."

"Really?! That's cool! I thought you looked a little bit like Gohan!" Goku didn't hide his excitement very well. Then a thought occurred to him, "So why are you back in our time? And where's your arm?!"

Future Gohan heaved a sigh of exhaustion. Bulma noticed this and figured she would give Gohan a break. "He came back to give you these." She handed him the medicine.

"Yuck, pills! What are these for?" Goku's mind immediately pictured a hospital, a place he didn't like at all. _Hmm, they look purple, maybe they're grape flavored, that wouldn't be so bad..._

"They're for your heart dad, he, I, um me from the future says that you are going to have a virus that attacks your heart and kills you" The present Gohan said. _Yup, definitely going to take them, grape isn't bad at all_.

"Alright, so what happened to your arm?" He questioned further.

"Come to think of it, you haven't told us that yet either." Piccolo chimed in, interested to hear what happened to his pupil in the future that left him with such a handicap, though he was pretty sure he could guess it.

"A year or two before we made the time machine and I came back here I fought against the androids. At first it seemed like I was about to win, but then, then they launched a massive attack. I tried to protect Tr- er, my friend, but it left my side open. They said I was lucky I didn't bleed out." Gohan looked down, thinking of his failure. After few seconds he bit back his sorrow and returned to the present, so to speak.

"Alright then! Just one question." Goku said, pointing up with his index finger, a serious expression on his face.

"Yeah?"

"What's an android?"

"Haha! Umm, well, it's basically a robot that looks a lot like a human." Gohan was glad to see that his father was just as he remembered him. Goku was still as innocent and kind-hearted as Gohan had recalled when he last saw him, now it was time to see if he was just as strong. His face became more stern as he thought of the task at hand now.

"Dad, go Super Saiyan please."

"Huh?" Goku was confused until he saw the look on Gohen's face. He knew what his son from the future needed in an instant. He looked deep within himself and found the Super Saiyan energy and drew it out. His hair stood on end and became a bright yellow. His muscles enlarged, ki filling his body and blasting out of him at the same time, creating a violent golden aura. Everyone was taken aback by his power, though when Gohan changed into Super Saiyan they were taken aback even more so. It was the first time in thousands of years that two Super Saiyans were in the same place, and a couple seconds later when their fists connected it was the first time that two Super Saiyans had fought against each other in a millenia.

Gohan dodged both of his father's fists and dealt a blow to Goku's stomach. Goku took a couple steps back to regain his balance but Gohan charged him. Using mostly his feet to attack Gohan kept the most powerful defender of Earth at bay. After a few kicks Goku caught onto the pattern of his future son's attacks and grabbed his leg. He spun Gohan around a few times before letting go and sending him flying into a nearby cliff. Gohan sat up and brushed off the rubble. He launched off towards his father, kicks meeting punches and vise versa. Each time the golden warriors met the Earth trembled under their strength.

Goku landed a punch after a few minutes, mostly due to luck by his own admittance. Gohan's body lifted up a few inches by the force of Goku's fist and he was dazed for a second or two. In that time Goku began to charge up a blast on the palm of his hand. As he launched it his futuristic son regained his senses. He dodged it at the last second by firing a kiai directly above himself. The kiai propelled Gohan towards the ground but before he hit he spun himself around and landed in a crouched position. With all three of his limbs he leapt off the ground towards his full blood saiyan father. Goku anticipated the move though and raised his hands, clenched together in a ball, he brought them down on his charging son.

Gohan had half a second to react, but he used it well. With his one hand he grabbed his father's attack and swung both legs at Goku. He connected with Goku and sent him flying back. Gohan launched four ki blasts at his father and then rushed in, faster than the blasts. Gohan punched him in the chest, sending him rocketing upwards. Still on his trail, Gohan flashed upwards and smacked Gokus sideways, followed by a continuous barrage of punches to Goku's abdomen as they sailed across the sky. Finally Gohan ended the pummeling by sliding past Goku and hitting him downwards.

Goku watched his son stay the same place and spent his downward tumble trying to catch his breath. He quickly realized he shouldn't have done that as a ki blast found it's way to Goku's back. Then another, then another. Finally the last one exploded against Goku's side. Before Goku could see it coming he felt Gohan's ki gather and then launch a massive beam at him. Just as it was about to reach him Goku quickly touched his head and appeared behind Gohan.

Gohan took a second to realize what had happened before he recalled all those years ago when his father had come back by teleporting to Earth. He felt Goku's ki appear behind him and swung his fist backwards, catching his father by the jaw.

"Wow you saw that coming?" Goku said, surprised to be taken so off guard when he expected to have surprise Gohan.

"I've seen you use that before, remember?" Gohan smirked. Goku smiled and then nodded. The two golden auraed warriors clashed once again, trading blows and taking hits from each other. They once again appeared even to those watching. Goku had taken a few more direct hits than Gohan had, but he was keeping up all the same. Finally Goku saw his opening.

Once again Goku gained the upper hand as he smashed Gohan in the chest. Gohan flew back, barely managing to catch himself. Before Goku could reach him, Gohan launched a barrage of ki blasts to fend him off. Goku dodged most of them, left, down, left, right, up, down. One finally connected with Goku's leg. The explosion sent him tumbling head over feet, causing more blasts to connect. Goku managed to regain his composure and charged through the blasts towards his older son.

The Z fighters sat on the sidelines watching in awe. Vegeta was still kneeling on the ground. He got up after he saw both shining fighters launch Kamehamehas at each other. Before anyone could react Vegeta blasted off the ground and towards Capsule Corp. He was gone faster than anyone could raise a finger.

"W-where'd he go?" Yamcha sputtered out.

"Looks like he headed to Capsule Corp, and could you blame him? These guys are monstrous!" Krillin replied.

"Wow, I'm gonna be strong enough to take on dad!" Gohan couldn't help but smile.

"Jeez! You Saiyans are all the same!" Krillin exclaimed.

Back on the battlefield Goku jumped up to his feet and brushed the dust off his shoulders. Gohan had just amplified his power even more and rocketed Goku into a crater that previously hadn't been there. He was excited to see his son so powerful, but at the same time he knew that the power only came with a great loss. Still, the saiyan in him felt nothing but pride in his future son. He looked up and saw a change in Gohan's expression. Smiling, he reverted back into his regular state, watching Gohan do the same.

"So, did ya see what you needed to?" He asked the man hovering above him. After a second of heavy breathing Gohan replied.

"Yeah, I just had to be sure I didn't build up your power in my head all those years."

"So did ya?"

"No, you're just as powerful as I remembered." Gohan landed and they both returned to the rest of the Z fighters. The area where they had fought now lay in rubble. Gohan's gi was torn on the right side and his pants had a few holes in them now. Goku had a few cracks in his armor and his left pant-leg had been ripped off as he dodged one of Gohan's ki barrages.

"Wow you're really strong!" The younger Gohan said as he ran up to his future counterpart. He had one of the most enthusiastic looks Goku had ever seen in his son. The Gohan of the future smiled at his younger self, then a frown came across his face.

"I may be strong, but I wasn't strong enough to save those I cared about." He clenched his fists and addressed everyone, "Please, train harder than you ever have before, don't let my future become your reality." He turned to his father, a stern look across his face, "Take those pills every week dad, we need everyone we can get."

"Will you come back and fight with us?" Krillin asked, he was worried to lose such a powerful asset to their group. One less person that strong would mean that he might die that much sooner. He had already died once and even though King Kai had offered to let him stay on his planet the next time Krillin was in no hurry to kick the bucket again.

"It takes awhile to charge up my machine for a round trip, but if I survive that time then I'll be back on May Ninth to help you guy finish the androids off for good." Gohan replied.

"Alright, take care son, see you in three years." Goku said as he gave his son from the future a quick hug. Gohan took to the air and waved at everyone.

"Bye guys, see you soon!" He blasted off towards the North.

"OK you guys heard what he said let's get down to it! I'll be training at Capsule Corp, anyone want to go with me?" Yamcha said, hoping for someone to train with other than Vegeta.

"I would go, but Vegeta is there, I don't want to share the same roof as someone who killed me." Tien replied.

"Actually," Gohan chimed in, "I felt Vegeta's ki leave to planet during that fight."

"Darn him! He must have taken the ship he used to try and track down Goku! I just finished the repairs on that thing!" Bulma yelled.

"Alright, I suppose I could train with you then Yamcha. Chaotzu will come along as well. Maybe this time we can contribute something to the fight." With that settled Tien, Chaotzu, Yamcha and a pissed off Bulma got into the Capsule Corp plane Bulma had driven there and took off for her home.

"Hey Piccolo!" Goku called over to the namekian after they had left. "Ya wanna train with Gohan an' me?"

"Yes, I'm interested to see what you've learned the past year." The green man replied. Gohan was overjoyed that his old teacher would be joining them as well.

"Awesome! Mr. Piccolo could you try to teach me how to do the Special Beam Cannon again please?" Gohan semi begged his green mentor.

"You get ahold of it in the future, I can't see why giving it another try would hurt."

"Yes!"

_Had a couple requests for power levels so here are the ones that have been encountered so far (yes I stick to low power levels)._

_ Future Gohan - 5,600,000_

_ SS Future Gohan - 7,050,000_

_ Android #17 - 7,000,000_

_ Android #18 - 7,000,000_

_ Future Trunks - 3,500,000_

_ King Cold - 4,500,000_

_ Mecha Freeza – 4,000,000_

_ Henchmen - 10,000 – 115,000_

_ I am using a model similar to Bringer of Death (an awesome fanfic, if you haven't already checked it out I would highly recommend it) for the Super Saiyan boost. Mine is around a +1,450,000 instead of the +145,000,000 that's in BoD._

_ Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! Keep them coming! It's awesome to get feedback!_

_ Alright! Now on to the Android saga! _


	3. Chapter 3: The Training of Earths Heroes

_Hey everyone! This chapter was fun to write so I hope you enjoy reading it!_

* * *

_ 2 years and 6 Months into Training_

Goku walked into his son's room. They had been training hard for the arrival of the androids as foretold by the Gohan that came from the future. Every day they would wake up at the crack of dawn and train until long after the sun had disappeared from the sky. Gohan was somewhat keeping up with his father and Piccolo, but would wear out much faster than either of them. Still, he had grown much stronger than he had been just a year earlier.

Bulma had called the previous night asking for some help with a few problems going on at Capsule Corp and West City. Goku felt that sending Gohan would be best for everyone for a couple of days, he and Piccolo could go all-out and Gohan could continue his training at a slightly slower pace. Goku launched himself on Gohan's bed and began jumping up and down.

"Get up sleepy! I've got some special training for ya!" He yelled. Gohan groggily rubbed his eyes and rolled out of bed.

"What is it dad?"

"You're gonna go help Bulma at Capsule Corp for a little while. Apparently that area has been having some trouble lately, I'm pretty sure you can handle it though!" Goku told his son.

"Uh alright, do I have to stay there long?"

"You shouldn't have to!" His father replied, "Well I'm off to train with Piccolo some more, hurry back son!"

Gohan watched his father run out the door and shoot into the sky. Then he put on his purple gi and told his mother where he was going. After convincing her that he could study at Capsule Corp while he wasn't helping Bulma she gave it an OK. With all of that out of the way Gohan stepped outside and took a deep breath. The woods were his favorite place to be and he was glad his family lived in such a secluded area. He held a backpack that contained all of the items that he would need while he stayed with Bulma, a toothbrush, an extra gi, toothpaste and his math and science books. One last deep breath and he flew into the sky. He could feel his father and mentor's energies a few miles away and considered stopping to say goodbye, but decided not to figuring that he would return in less than a week.

He was skeptical about his father's intentions with him. He wasn't sure that helping Bulma was the only reason he was going to West City. Over the past couple of years Gohan had felt like he was holding the two back. Sure he would keep up with them and try his best, but eventually he would pass out and have to be carried back home. His father and Piccolo were too considerate to tell him to go easy or to sit one out, but he could tell every once in awhile. Now he was determined to make sure he never held them back again, at Capsule Corp he would train as hard as he possibly could.

After a half an hour of flying he landed at the entrance of Capsule Corp. Bulma was standing there waiting for him.

"Hey Gohan! Long time no see!" Bulma waved at the half-saiyan.

"Hi Bulma! So what do you need me to do?"

"Down South of here there is a small sub section of West City that mostly gets it's money by farming. There is a group of triceratops that are stampeding and ruining all the crops before they can be picked, could you go stop them please? I know it's kind of dumb but Vegeta isn't back from space yet and Yamcha..." Bulma grabbed her opposite arm and looked down at the ground.

* * *

"Alright I understand. I'll be back before you know it!" Gohan shouted as he took to the skies once again. _So, Yamcha and Bulma broke up again, imagine that. Bulma looks much more sad than she usually does after their break ups though._

_1,001 light years away from Earth_

Vegeta sat in the control seat of the ship he had taken from Bulma's. So far he had liberated half of the planets Freeza had previously controlled. When he arrived at each one he would find it still under the Cold Empire usually. So Vegeta would go in and liberate it. The locals would call him a hero, throw parties, try to get him to take the leadership position. They didn't understand that he only did it to train. He wasn't trying to make the galaxy a better place, he just wanted to grow stronger, to beat Goku. After a few hours of unbothered rest flying to his next destination an alert went off.

"Huh." He sat up and took a look at the flashing red screen that was in front of him. He hit the command to play the transmission and a purple face appeared on the display.

"You are entering the airspace property of Lord Cooler, turn back if you wish to survive." The face gave a quick smirk and the transmission was cut.

"Hehe Lord Cooler eh? I didn't get a chance against Freeza, but now is the time to redeem myself!" Vegeta was filled with confidence. He started tapping on the keyboard in front of the screen. Another face appeared on it after he was finished. It was a fatter blue face with craters all around it. It's eyes were a bright yellow and it's nose pulled up like a pigs.

"This is Lord Cooler Planet 45, Captain Pinto speaking. Who are you and why are you entering our airspace?"

"It doesn't matter who I am, is Cooler on your planet right now?" Vegeta replied cockily.

"That is classified information that only high ranking officials have the right to know. It doesn't matter if he is or isn't on the planet I wouldn't tell you anyways. Turn around or die!" The blue face was becoming quite flustered, beginning to turn a red shade.

"Ha that's all I needed to know. You wouldn't have gotten so upset if he weren't here right now. I'll be taking landing dock 346, I expect a party when I get there." He cut the transmission. Vegeta laughed inwardly. This time, the acrosian was his.

* * *

Gohan landed in the middle of the small farming subsection that was being plagued by the triceratops. He could see that for a couple hundred foot radius around the town the corn was all packed down against the ground. There were a few packs of triceratops just running around in circles, preventing the corn from ever having the chance to recover.

He walked over to the nearest villager he could find. It was a man that looked very scruffy. He had a medium sized beard and wore a flannel shirt over his overalls. His shaggy brown hair was matted to his forehead and he appeared to be troubled by something.

"Hi! My name is Gohan." The young demi-saiyan said as he approached the farmer. The man looked up from his thoughts.

"Oh hello, I'm Jay. It's a pleasure to meet you I'm sure." He returned to staring off at the triceratops herd running around the village.

"Excuse me, is there any way that I could help you? I came here to defeat the Triceratops King." Jay brightened up and finally gave Gohan a serious look.

"What? That's excellent! But you can't be anymore than 12 or 13! How do you expect to beat the King?"

"I have my ways. I'm much stronger than I look!" Gohan gave a big smile, showing his confidence in himself. Jay looked happy, then his expression shifted to solemn.

"Well that's great and all, but we can't loose very much more crop without having to leave. I'd say another day or so and it'll all be over."

"Don't worry about it! I'll take care of this whole situation by the time you wake up tomorrow morning!" Gohan smiled once again, "Any chance you could point me in the direction of the King?"

"He is to the South of the village. Just follow the triceratops that are running amok and you'll find him."

"Thanks Jay!" Gohan hollered as he ran off with the directions he was given.

"Be careful kid!" Jay called out, not wanting to see Gohan get injured.

* * *

Vegeta sat in his cell quietly. He was all by himself in it. He knelt down and picked up a small rock that lay on the floor. He threw it up and caught it a few times before examining it a little closer. He determined by the one smooth side that it must have broken off the ceiling during one of the more rowdy prisoner's stays.

Vegeta chuckled to himself as he remembered what had transpired just a few hours ago. Instead of his usual entrance on the planet of seeking every high power level out and killing them, this time he had landed and let Captain Pinto take him in. They chained him up and threw him in the cell in which he now was sitting. He knew that eventually Cooler would come, hearing that a saiyan was in his custody, and that if he had just gone about killing everyone Cooler may escape. This way he had everyone fooled, they all thought he was weak. Even that pathetic Captain Pinto thought he could destroy Vegeta easily. _Bah, damn fools_, Vegeta thought. A figure began to approach his cell.

"Hey! Get up monkey. Captain Pinto and his court want to question you before Lord Cooler arrives." The chubby yellow alien said. He had four arms and stocky little legs. He wore the armor that most of Cooler's soldiers wore. Very similar to Freeza's only the jumpsuit was purple and the solid armor was a light yellow. Instead of two shoulder plates there was only one over the left side. The yellow soldier's face was mostly humanoid but instead of hair he had a row of bumps going down the middle and had large, round ears. Vegeta could barely contain his laughter.

They walked down the corridor in silence. The Saiyan Prince was surprised to see that the short chubby alien could move quite quickly for his stature. As the rotund alien led him along Vegeta thought about what he had experienced back on Earth that had driven him to this planet. Kakarot was a Super Saiyan. That was fine, he had almost come to terms with that, almost accepted the fact that his rival had reached the goal he had striven for his entire life before elite saiyan could. But when he saw Kakarot's damn abomination of a child achieve it as well, he could barely take it, not only that but that the bastard could have so easily killed him. It was intolerable. Since then Vegeta had done everything he possibly could to increase his strength. On one planet he had even gotten a hundred and fifty of the inhabitants to attack him at once. By the time they were all gone he was half dead, but that was twice as alive as those laying around him. In the two and a half years traveling in space he had increased his power exponentially. Still, he couldn't feel the Super Saiyan energy at all as far as he knew. Finally they approached a large set of doors with some foreign alien god on them, Vegeta assumed.

As they entered into the dark room Vegeta counted twelve people sitting around the outside of the room, each wearing ceremonial robes and most were of species that Vegeta hadn't run into before. It wasn't surprising really, as powerful as he was Freeza was only the Lord of around 10 galaxies or so, each with about nine or ten inhabitable planets. Any galaxies that were under another Cold family were off limits to Vegeta and anyone below him. Knowing that Vegeta had only really been to about a hundred and twenty or so planets, most with very similar life forms on them. Still a couple of the aliens around the room looked familiar. He stood in the middle of the room in his hand cuffs. Captain Pinto stood at the end of the room, behind a podium.

"Mister Vegeta, what is your business on our planet?" Pinto said, his voice commanding, but still very amusing as he sounded like a depressed dog. Vegeta snickered.

"That's PRINCE Vegeta, and I am here to sell you Galactic Donuts. I'm going planet to planet selling them for my Junior Cooler Ranger Merit Badge. If you bought some it would really mean a lot to me." The smile across his face was menacing and confident.

* * *

Gohan crept past the triceratops that were sleeping all around the camp. It was around nightfall and he guessed that they were ruining the crops in shifts. So far he had passed through a maze of destroyed corn to get here. Now he was staring at what he was positive was the entrance to the area containing the Triceratops King. At his count there were 10 sleeping guards and only one was half awake. _Alright,_ Gohan thought to himself, _this will be too easy if I just go at full power, I'll have to __give myself some handicaps. _He thought for a moment and then decided on the rules of his upcoming fight. First, as he heard Jay say that they couldn't handle loosing too much more of their crop, he wouldn't knock over any more corn. Second, he wouldn't fly or use any ki in the fight. With that figured out he leapt out of the bushes and with his open hand hit the lone conscious guard in the back of his head, knocking him out. Now standing by himself he looked at the entrance to the dark section of forest he was about to enter. He let his eyes adjust and ran in.

Gohan noticed a ring of triceratops around a clearing about forty feet around. In the middle of them stood a massive one, at least five times bigger than the rest. He had a scar running down one eye that starred Gohan down with a glassy gaze. On each of the horns protruding from his head he had red rings near the base. He grunted.

"Alright! My name is Son Gohan, I'm giving you this one chance to leave the village and it's crops alone. Please take it now or face doing this the hard way." Gohan yelled out. The Triceratops King stood up and turned towards the saiyan boy.

"Is this a joke? You dare challenge us?" The King let out a large guttural laugh.

"Leave the village alone! It is full of people just trying to make a living for themselves!" Gohan was more stern this time.

"We are claiming this land for the triceratops! The humans have had the land long enough! Get out now and I'll spare your life." Gohan tensed himself up and slowly began walking towards the gigantic triceratops. The Triceratops King became more angry with each step.

"Fine! You have made your choice, and it just so happens to be your unlucky day. You interrupted our prisoner's execution." As the King stepped aside and towards Gohan he saw a wooden cage. Inside of it lay a purple dragon that couldn't have been any taller than Gohan.

_Now I have a prisoner to worry about too, darn it! _The triceratops King began to charge at Gohan. He expertly dodged to the side as he came rushing past. Gohan ran to the opposite side of the arena the triceratops had set up. He had to study the giant's movements if he wanted to beat him without flying or using his saiyan abilities. The King turned around and faced Gohan. All the triceratops around him were cheering their leader on. He charged again, but this time he was faster, throwing Gohan off, he made contact with the young man and threw him a good fifteen feet. Gohan quickly jumped to his feet, trying to be on guard for the next attack. It was too late, the old dinosaur was once again on top of him, throwing him again. When Gohan got up he was barely able to dodge the oncoming giant. He got ready for yet another charge, but when he dodged this time the royal dino turned and hit him again. As Gohan slowly got up he saw the King coming at him yet another time. His brain went on overdrive thinking of a way to get ahead in this scrimmage. Then, he had a plan when the beast was just feet away from him. He kicked off the ground and launched himself to the left, narrowly dodging the three deadly horns. As he rolled out of the way he aimed himself away from the charging beast. The King rounded the corner and came back towards the preteen. As he was just about a foot away Gohan leapt into the air and landed on the King's middle horn, just above his nose and grabbed on to the two horns above his eyes with both arms. With all his might he pushed down with his feet. The Triceratops King's buried itself into the ground for ten or so feet. Gohan jumped up and over it's crest and jumped off to it's side, giving the King a strong kick to the ribs in the process. When he landed on the ground he pivoted to face the downed royalty, hand outstretched. He had an orb of energy hanging just a few inches away from his open hand.

"Now, leave this area. Never come back." The King looked up and saw the stern expression in the young boy. He immediately started to cower in fear of this mighty foe.

"F-fine, we'll leave, I promise! If you come back you'll find this town is back to normal and we will be long gone." He pleaded.

"And the dragon? You'll let him go free?"

"Yes!" Gohan let the blast dissipate and his expression softened. He helped the massive triceratops back upright.

As the triceratops began to leave their little settlement Gohan strode over to the cage containing the dragon. He smacked one of the corners and it all fell to the ground. The dragon flapped it's wings a few times and let out a roar. "Hey, are you alright?" The dragon nodded.

"Do you have a name? Mine is Gohan." The dragon looked at him quizzically. "How bout Icarus? Does that sound OK?" Gohan had remembered the name from some legend his mom had made him read for his English studies. The dragon nodded excitedly.

"You like that huh? Alright well I gotta get going, hopefully I'll be seeing you again sometime!"

* * *

"Now, for the last time, why are you here?!" Captain Pinto was very irate at this point. "So far you've told us that you are looking for real estate, trying out for the Planetary Olympics and are starting a band called FLOW. Tell us why you're here Prince Bejita!"

"I told you, my name is PRINCE VEGETA!" The smile faded from his face.

"Oh alright, sorry, your highness." Pinto let out a chuckle from his pudgy blue face.

"You have no idea how sorry you should be." Vegeta looked up and smirked. Everyone in the room was taken aback. In one swift movement he flexed his arms and pulled his arms away from each other. The cuffs shattered to a million pieces. Before anyone could react he raised his hands so they pointed to opposite ends of the room and fired off 6 small beams from each hand. Pinto was shocked when he looked across the room. In the place of each of the robed officials was now splatters of red and purple against the walls. Vegeta was in front of him in a flash.

"What I did to them I will soon do the same to you." An evil grin was on his face.

_Props to anyone who knows where the Gohan section comes from! The Vegeta part was awesome to write, hope I kept him in character. Getting closer to the main plot of the story so keep with me here! As always, reviews are welcomed and appreciated! Leave constructive criticism, guesses, doomsday prophesies, you know, the usual. _

_ Oh yeah, do you guys prefer that I get a regular day for updating or should I just throw out the chapters as soon as I finish them? Anyone wanna beta for me by the way?_

_ Well that's it for this week! See you all later! _


	4. Chapter 4: Rising Action

Bulma walked through the lab at a pretty brisk pace. Even though it was close to midnight she was still hard at work trying to make her father's inventions even better. Gohan had returned from the village in the South earlier that day and Bulma had convinced him to stay a little while longer; crime in the city just kept going up and she liked having the extra assurance of Gohan there. He reminded her so much of his father when he was younger it was ridiculous. Plus she missed having a saiyan around all the time, she had been surprised to find that she was sad when Vegeta left the Earth and hoped that when he returned he would stay at Capsule Corp again. She was developing a way to make the saiyan armor Vegeta had brought back more resilient to the ki attacks that they ran into everyday it seemed. She also had a side project going on that she was currently focusing on of modifying the scouter they had gotten off of Raditz. So far she had reverse engineered it to the point that she could make an exact duplicate and now she was trying to find a way to increase the amount of ki it could sense. The best scouter she found on Namek topped out at around one million and then blew up. Bulma didn't want anything exploding anywhere near her head so she was determined to fix this, especially because she wanted to use it to follow the fights the Z fighters were about to go through.

Hopefully her inventions would be of use to other humans to keep up with the saiyans. While she worked she kept the TV on, she didn't really pay attention to it, she just liked the background noise. The News was playing after some weird show about a bar in West City run by a former baseball pitcher. A red-headed news reporter came on wearing a purple blazer.

"And authorities are still investigating the disappearances of award-winning scientist Dr. Falcon, who went missing over two months ago. He is the ninth scientist to vanish in the past two years..."

"Yes!" Bulma finally found the programing that would short-circuit the scouter! Now she just had to figure out how to modify it and give it more power.

* * *

Vegeta stood above the rubble that used to be the main government building on the planet. He held a beat up Captain Pinto by the neck of his armor to his side and slowly began to rise up in the air. Vegeta had used the blue alien to batter down the entire building complex. Throwing him through walls and the captain had proven to be more useful to Vegeta than he had been to Cooler in all his years of service.

"L-lord Cooler will punish you for this." He managed to choke out.

"You poor fool, that's exactly what I want!" He lifted the captain up so they matched eye-levels. "Now, what's my name again?"

"Prince V-vegeta."

"Correct." He hoisted the blue alien into the air and threw him with all his might into the sky. As he saw Pinto reach the peak height he pointed at him with his index and middle finger. Half a second later the alien erupted into a brilliant explosion of energy. "He made such a nice firework. Haha, the party of my arrival has ended, now it's time to find Cooler."

He hovered in the same place for a minute, searching for a high power level. It was quite convenient not having to rely on scouters all the time. The blasted things blew up constantly anyways. For some reason thinking of the outdated piece of technology brought Bulma to his mind. He thought of her quite a bit on the long rides in between planets actually. He slapped his forehead when he realized how little he was focusing on the task at hand. He cleared his mind and began his search again, finally finding four large ki's all gathered together.

"That must be you, Cooler. Get ready for your reckoning Acrosian!" He yelled as he shot off in the direction of the power warriors he had sensed.

* * *

Two men walked through West City at a casual speed. They were dressed in a style that had gone more than decades ago. They both dressed very formally, with a bit of a militaristic style. People would shoot them a strange look every once in a while, but most had seen weirder people before. The more elderly looking one glanced over towards his younger companion.

"Do you have the destination point?" He said gruffly.

"Yes sir, another eight blocks North and six blocks East after that." The young blonde man replied with a much smoother voice.

"Good." They continued walking along their path, not stopping for anyone or anything.

* * *

Vegeta hovered above a saucer-like space ship. He lowered his ki output so it resembled a bird or some creature like that. A smirk gleamed off of his face. This was it, time for him to get his vengeance.

"Cooler! Get out here now or I'll blow up your ship in the next minute." The proud prince of saiyans hollered. His arms were crossed, finger tapping against his bicep. Patience was not his strong point by a long shot. After half a minute he stretched out his arm towards the ship. He was set on blowing it up early just because he could when the hatch on the top of the ship opened up. Three blurs came flying out of it. They stopped right in front of him. On was a large, skinny reptilian looking red alien, the next was a huge green man with long black hair. The last was a shorter humanoid with bright blue skin and yellow hair. They all wore red scouters and the traditional one-shoulder armor with a purple jump suit.

"You're not Cooler, leave and bring your leader out. Do it or I'll kill you all." Vegeta said in a cocky tone, irritated that he was supposed to deal with these lackeys.

"We are Cooler's Armored Squadron you imbecile. You have to go through us to get to him. Not that you could ever get that far." The small blue one said with an accent that was very similar to French. "Let's get him boys!"

All three flew at Vegeta faster than any opponent he had faced in the past few months. Still, the Prince of Saiyans was ready for them. The red lizard-like soldier was the first to reach him. He jabbed towards Vegeta's head but the dark-haired warrior ducked below it. He followed up by delivering a punch solidly to the enemy's gut. Just as the lizard was launched away the blue skinned short one came flying in. He landed a hit on Vegeta's left shoulder. Vegeta used this to his advantage as he grabbed the other soldier's arm. He swung him around once and threw him towards the red amphibian who was just recovering. Finally the green member of the armored squadron reached the proud saiyan. Vegeta dodged underneath the oncoming brute and while he was directly above him Vegeta kicked him straight in the chest with both his feet, sending him spiraling upwards.

The three best of Cooler's guard slowly got back to their feet. Vegeta stepped down on the dirt in front of them. "I think we might finally have a challenge Salza" The red lizard said to his leader in a nasally voice.

"Maybe Neiz, let's finish 'im quick anyways. Doore, take ees left, Neiz take the right." Salza replied. Ki erupted around his hand, forming a blade.

"Are you going to talk, or fight?" Vegeta asked condescendingly. With that the three flew in at Vegeta once again. This time they attacked as one, Neiz grabbed his right arm while Doore grabbed his left, immobilizing the Prince temporarily. Salza charged down the middle, he drew his hand back and when he was a foot from his prey he swung at his heart. Vegeta leapt up using both feet to propel himself. The soldiers holding him caused him to spin upwards, catching Salza in the jaw with his right foot. Summoning his strength he pulled both arms in front of him, causing Doore and Neiz to collide into each other. While they were stunned he jumped a couple steps back and charged up ki between his palms. Once the two elite realized what was happening it was too late. Vegeta fired off a barrage of energy blast, each connecting with at least one of the two.

* * *

Bulma was halfway done with her scouter. She had modified the programing now and also had used stronger materials to strengthen the exterior. The last thing on her checklist for it was to somehow change the eyepiece color to one that suited her more. The dark blue was just not up to her fashion standards. In the long run she also wanted to make it able to be used as a dragon radar and a couple other handy abilities she had thought up over the past few days. **Crash**. Something fell on the other side of the workshop.

"Hello? Who's there? Dad?" Bulma questioned the unknown entity she was sure made the noise.

* * *

Dr. Briefs slept in his bed all alone, his wife was on some trip to a tropical island, he had stayed behind to work. He did really hate leaving his shop for any amount of time other than to sleep. The only real rival to his company was Pod Inc and they were a fair distance from getting to a Capsule level of excellence. Still, Briefs liked to be a few steps ahead of the game at all times, and by his best estimate he was at least ten steps ahead of everyone. In fact he had never heard of anyone that could compete with him in all his years in the business. Except that one scientist a couple decades ago...

Dr. Briefs heard his bedroom door open. It couldn't be Bulma, his daughter never came into his room unless it was some sort of huge emergency, and even then she usually just called him on the intercom.

"Wake up good doctor." the voice was gruff. Definitely not his daughter. He scrambled to reach for his glasses. His normally relaxed cat was hissing at the intruder, hair standing on end. His vision finally came into focus. The man standing in front of his door wore what seemed to be a slightly outdated military uniform. On his head was what appeared to be an upside down black bucket with some sort of insignia on it. He had long white hair and an equally colorless beard.

"Who are you?" Briefs said in shock.

"That matters very little Dr. Briefs. What does matter is the fact that you've been chosen to help me in my everlasting quest for vengeance." It was then that Dr. Briefs put two and two together. The red insignia on his hat and the familiarity of his appearance, not to mention his need for vengeance.

"You're Dr. Gero of the red ribbon army, aren't you?" The intruder laughed maniacal.

"Yes I am, very astute. Now if you'll please get dressed we can be on our way." Gero ordered sternly.

"Sorry but I'm going to stay here, I hate leaving my lab."

"I thought you might say that. Blue, come in here." A tall blonde man came into the room wearing a similar military uniform as Dr. Gero. In his arms was Brief's greatest creation, Bulma.

"No, Bulma!"

* * *

Vegeta fired off another massive ki beam at his foes. So far he had managed to piss of the other fighters. He needed to save the majority of his energy for the fight against Cooler. When the blast faded he saw the three members of Cooler's Armored Squadron still standing, albeit panting heavily. Salza was the first to move. Before Vegeta could recover from his beam Salza flew at him, energy blade charged and at the ready. He made a swipe for his head which Vegeta ducked. While he was down, he filled his fist with ki and socked Salza in the stomach. The blue squadron member went flying back. Next Neiz came in for a close quarters combat. His long spindly leg flew towards Vegeta's chest. Thinking quickly the Prince of Saiyans side-stepped and grabbed his leg. Using the momentum from the lizard-like soldier's kick Vegeta spun him around and then swung him into the ground. Without warning a ki blast smacked into Vegeta's hip. He turned around just in time to catch another blast to his right knee. Doore was launching as many blasts as he could at the Saiyan. Vegeta crossed his arms in front of his face, blocking damage to his vitals. Each impact of ki to flesh mad Vegeta more and more irritated, finally he snapped.

"ENOUGH!" His voice could rattle the windows a mile away. The aura around him erupted even more violent than normal. Vegeta left his defensive stance, allowing more ki blasts to hit him. The proud warrior lifted his left arm and pointed it towards Doore. A bright purple ki beam erupted from his finger tips, flying through the air and burying itself in Doore's chest.

Blood spewed from the large green alien's back. Vegeta flared his aura again and flew up higher into the sky, pointing himself towards the ground. He placed his hands to his right side, cupping his left hand in his right. He focused his ki in the middle of his palm. After a few seconds of charging it he pushed both arms out forward, releasing the ki in an arc towards the ground.

"Galic Gun!" The beam hit the ground where Neiz lay unconscious. The red lizard was obliterated in half a second. Vegeta hovered in the air panting, scanning the ground for Salza. Suddenly he felt a massive ki approaching. He whipped around to see a tall purple acrosian floating towards him.

"Quite the display of power you've demonstrated, monkey."

"Cooler, I've been looking forward to this for quite some time."

* * *

Gohan was woken up when he heard something large crash down in the lower levels of the Capsule Corp building. After that he felt Bulma's ki signature disappear, followed a few minutes later by Dr. Brief's ki. He was now rocketing through the halls trying to find his hosts. Each turn he expected to find some huge new enemy, and each turn he saw nothing. By his estimate he had covered all of the lab area and housing part. The only place left to check was the atrium, but he decided to look outside quickly.

Gohan was glad that he had checked. Crossing the front yard of Capsule Corp, directly in front of the window he was looking out of, two men were walking away, Dr. Briefs and Bulma swung over each of their shoulders.

"Dang it!"

* * *

_Hey sorry this took so long! I had a couple things come up in the past week so I wasn't able to finish the chapter, and I got stuck on the fight with the armored squadron for awhile. _

_ The story is starting to pick up now! I promise that we'll see Future Gohan again soon, though I am having trouble figuring out what to call him as to not confuse him with the Gohan of the present timeline. Maybe Han because that's what kanji is on his back? Not really sure, oh well. Any thoughts on that matter would be appreciated! If you feel up to it post a review as they are highly encouraging! Leave criticisms, guesses, tips, your darkest secret, you know, the usual._

_That's it for now! Later! _


	5. Chapter 5: Fifth degree of Cooler

Gohan stared out at the two men carrying Bulma and Dr. Briefs away from the Capsule Corp building. He put one foot on the window sill and used it to launch himself outside. He landed a few yards behind the strange men. Both turned around to face the young half-Saiyan. Immediately Gohan felt their cold stares pierce through him.

"Analysis complete doctor, data shows this is Gohan, son of Son Goku." the blonde man that held Dr. Briefs said. Gohan felt a bead of sweat drip down his forehead. _How do they know who I am?_

"Alright, take care of him Blue, I'll take the doctor and his daughter to the lab."

"Affirmative." Blue said as he started to follow orders.

"No you don't!" Gohan yelled, rushing in and kicking the blonde man in the chest before he could give the old genius to his master. Dr. Briefs' unconscious body flew up into the air before being caught by Gohan.

"Now give me my other friend or I'll have to fight you!" The demi-Saiyan flared his aura quickly, hoping to scare them off. As much as he had trained in the past couple years he still didn't enjoy fighting very much. On the other hand though, his friends were in danger and he would do anything to help them, a trait he inherited from his father. He was slightly thrown off by these two though, he couldn't sense their ki at all. He knew from holding on the Dr. Briefs that he was still alive so they must all have something that hid them from Gohan's fine senses. He heard a soft beeping coming from one of the two intruders. The older looking one seemed to focus on some unknown object for a second and then frowned.

"Blue, take care of him quick, there's a strong power reading somewhere nearby." Gohan threw Dr. Briefs gently as he could a few feet behind himself and took up a defensive stance between the man and the android. Blue chuckled and cracked his neck, then back, and finally placed one hand inside the other and cracked his knuckles. Then he took off towards Gohan.

He was next to the small fighter in a split second, but Gohan followed him like it was nothing. Before Blue could land a hit Gohan grabbed his fist and threw him into a tree. As he smashed into the trunk, snapping it in two, Gohan trailed him, launching a few ki blasts at point blank range. Then he summoned all his might and kicked the Aryan into the air. Gohan nearly slapped himself in the face for his stupidity as he heard the sound of movement behind him. When he whipped around he saw the white-haired man flying in to get Dr. Briefs. Gohan knew there was no way that he could reach him in time, he had to try though. Before he could get even a foot towards his elderly ally an orange blur came out of no where and smashed into the android holding Bulma.

Yamcha stood up and looked at Dr. Briefs. "Is he sleeping right now?" he said, trying to break the tension that had built up.

"I'm not sure Yamcha, that old guy did something weird to him and Bulma." Gohan replied.

"B-bulma? They have Bulma?!"

"Yeah, that's who that old guy has over his shoulder." Yamcha took on a serious tone.

"Alright, let's pound this guy's face in!"

"Blue, this is attracting too large of a crowd, get rid of them NOW!" The tall blonde man jumped up and blocked the path between the two fighters and his master. Gohan rushed in but Blue reached him, grabbed him by the back of the neck and drove his knee into the Z fighter's stomach. Yamcha used this opening as his opportunity to go after the other man. Once again though Blue shot in front of Yamcha and threw Gohan directly into the strong human's chest. Gero saw this as his chance and flew off as fast as he could. He left Dr. Briefs behind, fearing that other fighters would soon be there. Blue may be strong, but he may not be strong enough to hold off three of Earth's defenders.

"No! Bulma!" Yamcha yelled.

"Calm down, I'm your opponent now." the tall blonde said. Yamcha finally got a good look at the man that was fighting the two Z warriors.

"G-general Blue?!" Yamcha remembered back to when he had first joined Goku's group. General Blue had been the first real challenge to Goku's strength and had nearly killed most of their ragtag group. He had stood no chance back then. This time was different though, this time he was stronger, this time he would defeat Blue. Hadn't Blue been killed by Tao though?

"Let's get this started then shall we, Yamcha?" General Blue said, bowing mockingly at the ex-bandit. Yamcha crouched and assumed his battle stance. Gohan jumped up next to him and did likewise.

* * *

Vegeta hovered above Cooler who stood on the ground, arms crossed and tail swaying back and forth. The Saiyan lowered himself slightly, bringing him closer to Cooler.

"So, you're Freeza's brother eh?" the Prince of Saiyans said, amused by the differences in the two.

"Yes, and you're the dirty ape my brother kept as a pet all those years. Are you here to get fixed?" Cooler responded with a chuckle. Vegeta gritted his teeth and powered up, veins bulging from his forehead.

"I'll make you wish you were never born scum!" He screamed as he rushed in towards Cooler. Before the tyrant could react Vegeta kicked him straight in the gut. The mighty Acrosian doubled over, reeling in pain. Vegeta performed an uppercut to Cooler's jaw, hurling him upwards. He followed this with dozens of jabs to Cooler's exposed stomach and finally a roundhouse that sent his foe flying backwards. Vegeta gathered his energy and charged in after Freeza's kin. Vegeta was much faster at this point, getting ahead of Cooler and backhanding him towards the ground. As he crashed into the dirt Vegeta whipped around and released a huge ki wave that crushed him even further into the soil.

"So, is that all that the line of Cold has left to offer? You're pathetic Cooler, you're weak. I can see now why Freeza was ashamed to call you his brother." Vegeta smirked, "Come on, get up and die proudly against the Prince of the race you Colds so loved to oppress."

The ground shook as Cooler began to rise from the hole Vegeta had put him in. His eyes were glowing a bright red and energy crackled all around him.

"You fool, I shall show you my true power!" His teeth grew a bit more pointed. Vegeta drew back in shock.

"As you can see I was fighting in my fourth form, the same one that my brother used to kill you and blow up that infernal planet Namek. Now I'm going to show you true fear though. You see, I discovered a fifth, much more powerful form! Father did always like my brother so much more than me, always training him and taking him along to conquer planets. Now I will show him who is truly stronger." His muscles grew as well as the rest of his body until he towered over the Saiyan Prince. His shoulder plates raised up into arches and both of his forearm guards grew a blue gem and a blade protruding from the back. His shin guards grew similar blue gems on each side. His tail gained a white spike at the end of it as well, but the biggest change was in his head. Four spikes protruded from the top of his head, forming a sort of crest. The whites of his eyes became jet black and the only skin that really showed was a little bit around his mouth.

"Are you ready to feel real terror little Prince?" He said, his voice much deeper now. Vegeta could sense his massive power level finally plateau. It was still leagues better than Vegeta's own though. He got into a defensive stance and powered up as high as he could, he knew this may well be his final battle. Five thin white plates shot out over the remaining exposed area on Cooler's face, forming a mouth guard that gave his voice a metallic ring. "Time to die."

* * *

Yamcha flew backwards, hitting the wall of Capsule Corp and falling to the ground. Gohan allowed himself a split second to check on his comrade and then returned his attention to the fight. Blue had been beating the hell out of the Z fighters for the past few minutes. So far it didn't seem like he had any weaknesses at all.

"Heh heh heh, the little boy wants another turn? Well who am I to say no!" The general took off towards Gohan, arm drawn back, ready to smack Gohan senseless. The young fighter anticipated his opponent's attack and grabbed Blue's fist at the last second. He used his free hand to smash his fist into the general's chest. He followed up by kicking with both feet into the side of the Red Ribbon member. General Blue flipped a few time and landed on his arm, skidding to a halt a few yards away. Gohan pulled both hands to his right side. "Ka me." A blue orb of ki formed between his palms. "Ha me." Blue started to move towards Gohan, but before he could reach him Gohan released the ki. "HA!" A brilliant blue beam blasted it's way towards General Blue. Yamcha looked on as Gohan unleashed the Kamehameha Wave. _Good job kid, you'll be stronger than us humans in no time._

Gohan finally let up, allowing his beam to dissipate. Gohan relaxed his muscles and let his guard down, thinking his fight was over. Before the smoke even cleared Blue rocketed out and grabbed Gohan by the throat.

"You'll have to do better than that little boy!" Gohan felt his energy slowly draining, Yamcha felt it too. He pushed himself off the ground and launched a barrage of ki blasts at General Blue and then rushed in towards him himself. Blue caught every single ki blast with his free hand and then grabbed Yamcha as well. He felt all his energy flooding out towards the one point of contact between him and the general. _No, he must be draining me of energy!_

Gero had reached his lab as fast as he could. After typing in the security code, followed by a retina scan and then a voice reader, he entered in to his mechanical Nirvana. The door slammed shut behind him and there was the sound of gears moving, locking it multiple times.

Dr. Gero attached Bulma's hands to two cuffs that dangled down from a hovering robot. The robot followed Gero around as he moved throughout the lab.

"Let's see how the fight is going with Son Goku's brat." His hands flew across a keyboard as he brought up a picture of Yamcha and Son Gohan on the computer.

* * *

Cooler flew at Vegeta with such speed that the prince couldn't even see him. In fact he didn't even register that Cooler had moved until the monster delivered a punch to his gut that shattered two of his ribs. Vegeta doubled over, coughing up blood. Cooler didn't allow him any time to correct himself, the massive Acrosian hit him in the back with his elbow, dropping the raven haired warrior. Before Vegeta hit the ground Cooler brought his knee up, colliding with Vegeta's skull and sending him flying into the air. Cooler reached out and grabbed him by his head, with his free hand he dished out bone breaking punches to Vegeta's body, the Saiyan had no time to react what so ever. When Cooler finally let up Vegeta raised his hand and fired off as many ki blasts as he could at point blank range. Cooler's hand released it's grip on Vegeta and he began to charge a Galick Gun as he moved his arms to his side.

Before the smoke even cleared Cooler's large purple foot swept out and caught Vegeta square in the face. He flew back a few feet and groggily got back up to his feet. His armor had absorbed most of the impacts to his chest but the rest of his body still ached from Cooler's onslaught. In a split second Cooler was on top of him again. The huge acrosian punched Vegeta in the center of his chest, throwing him backwards at an alarming speed. The Prince's opponent didn't give him any reprieve, chasing him down and delivering more planet shattering hits to the Saiyan as they flew through the air. Finally with a mighty punch Cooler sent Vegeta rocketing into a cliff.

Vegeta watched as Cooler continued flying past him. He took a second to assess his situation. He was stuck a good two feet into the face of the cliff, he could barely move, the rock bit into his skin. He could feel that most of his body was broken, at least four of his ribs were shattered, his right shoulder had been dislocated, and his skull felt like it was broken in a couple places. Vegeta strained to clench his hands into fists, the effort it took made him want to vomit. He couldn't sense Cooler anymore, he wasn't sure whether that was because the brother of Freeza had hidden his ki or because Vegeta's head was throbbing too much to locate him, sensing ki was after all a relatively new skill to him.

As if answering Vegeta's unspoken question he felt the mountain he was stuck in tremble. After a few seconds a blunt object stuck the Saiyan Prince's back and shot him out of the cliff. Vegeta managed to roll onto his back and look up. Standing above him was Cooler, cracking his knuckles. Behind him was the rubble where a mountain should have been.

"Having fun little monkey prince?" Cooler's metallic voice rang out mockingly.

Yamcha felt his energy reaching it's halfway point, a few more minutes and he would be drained dry. He struggled to try and make the general let go of him or Gohan but he couldn't concentrate enough to summon any ki. He punched as hard as he could towards Blue's face. He felt his fist connect but it had no effect on his foe.

"Haha do you feel your weakness Yamcha? Do you feel how feeble your attempts to rescue yourself and little Gohan are?" Blue yelled, laughing the entire time. "You shall die here and I will gain all your energy! Then I will find and kill Son Goku and my revenge will be complete!"

Yamcha's thought back to when they fought the red ribbon army, hadn't Tao been the one that killed Blue? Why would Blue want revenge on Goku for his death then? Yamcha was brought back from his thought when he felt pain shoot through his body, his ki was getting drained faster, more violently. He could see energy coursing through General Blue, his eyes were almost shining with all the excess. Blue yelled as he focused all his efforts on draining the two Z fighters dry.

Gohan was close to passing out when he felt something familiar coming closer. After a few seconds he heard something familiar as well, some sort of buzzing noise. In an instant he felt himself fall to the ground, hand still wrapped around his neck but his ki was no longer being drained. He heard Blue let out a loud scream and managed open his eyes a bit.

Blue had dropped Yamcha as well and was facing away from the two nearly drained warriors. Facing off against him now was a short, bald monk in an orange and blue fighting gi.

"Krillin!"

* * *

Bulma's eyes fluttered open. The last thing she remembered was hearing a loud noise in the lab at Capsule Corp. When she had gone to investigate it she hadn't seen anything, then she felt a pain in her neck and blacked out. Now she was here, where ever here was. She felt her arms were raised above her head, after a few seconds of testing she deduced that she was stuck in this position. She was off the ground a few inches the best she could tell, hovering from something, she guessed the same object that held her hands above her head. Her vision slowly came back.

She was in some sort of laboratory, she could see machines all over the place, computer displays and such lining the walls. Behind them though were rock walls, most not even smoothed out. All of the computer displays were in basic so she could read the vast majority of it. Sitting in front of her was an old man with long white hair and a black hat on typing on a keyboard.

"Who are you, what do you want with me?" She yelled. The old man turned around, revealing an aged face and white goatee.

"I see you've awoken Ms. Briefs." The man said. "As you could probably guess I am Dr. Gero and this is my beautiful laboratory." He gestured around with his arms.

"Why did you bring me here?" Bulma yelled again.

"Try not to yell Ms. Briefs, no one can hear you, we are deep in a mountain, and further that band on your arm suppresses your ki from everyone. No one is coming to help you." Gero motioned to a metal band around her left arm that had three red lights flashing on it. "And for why I brought you here, it was an accident really. I tried to get your father but you just happened to be in the way."

"Where's my dad then you sick freak?" Bulma tried to act tough but she knew if he had hurt her father she wouldn't be able to control herself.

"Ah good question, let's take a look." Gero turned back to his keyboard and struck a few buttons. After a second or two the large display in front of her lit up and showed Krillin in a deadlock with some one armed enemy. In the place of it's other arm was a stub with wires and tubing sticking out. Gero cringed, not that Bulma could see it though. He hadn't expected Blue to take this much of a beating.

* * *

Vegeta held onto life by a thread. Cooler had beaten him to a bloody pulp, he barely had enough energy to even open his eyes. Cooler's tail was wrapped around his neck and squeezed harder every few seconds. Vegeta gasped for air, each time it got harder and harder. He felt his life slowly leaving him. Cooler was mocking him, laughing after every insult, but Vegeta couldn't hear him, all he could hear was the slowing pace of his own heart as it started to refuse to pump blood into the rest of his body. Cooler gave one last laugh and threw Vegeta's body away. He landed on his stomach, paining him further because of all his broken ribs.

Vegeta got the urge to open his eyes one last time, he didn't know why, but for some reason he knew he had to. He summoned all the energy he had left and lifted his eyelids. His vision was blurred by the blood pouring out of his wounds. In front of him stood Cooler, arms crossed and laughing at the Prince of all Saiyans. His laughter stabbed at Vegeta's pride, the most painful wound Vegeta had been dealt that day.

Something else was appearing though to Cooler's side. It started out blurry and unclear but gradually came into focus. Standing next to Cooler with a disapproving gaze was a man in full Saiyan armor, medals dangling from one side. A red cape blew in the wind behind him. Beneath his beard Vegeta could make out a scowl.

"So this is how you choose to die son? Hardly fit for the death of a Saiyan Elite.

* * *

_Hey sorry for being late on this! I tried to have it out yesterday morning and that didn't happen, then I tried for late last night, once again that was a no go. I finally got it though! (cheers)_

_ So anyways, there was quite a bit of action this time! Hope you enjoy reading it because it was pretty fun to write. Next time we'll find out what Dr. Gero is doing with the scientists he has been taking and how to make a burrito with senzu beans! _

_ Anyone see the trailer for Battle of Z? It looks so friggin legit! At the same time though I am skeptical that it'll just be another game like Ultimate Tenkaichi, looks sick but is such a let down. :P Oh well, if there's good what-ifs or character customization I'm sure I'll get it._

_ Alright well that's it for this week folks! As always leave a review with you thoughts, concerns, speculations and secret recipes. _

_ See you all next week!_


	6. Chapter 6: Awakening of an Avenger

_Moments before Krillin had showed up._

Goku and Piccolo had just finished a particularly long training session. Usually Goku followed the promise he had made a couple years ago to Chi Chi that he would make it home before midnight every night so he wouldn't wake anyone up. This time he had decided to break it though, Piccolo had wanted to try a new technique that he had been working on. After hours of grueling fighting and new bruises that added to each of their collections. Goku breathed heavily while he lay on the ground. "Jeez Piccollo, if that attack was a little faster I doubt that I'd still be alive." Goku said between heavy breaths.

"That's the point." Piccollo responded gruffly, "I need to work on it more. Otherwise it won't be of any use against the Androids."

"Well at least this time I don't have to hold on to the enemy for the attack to be effective haha!" Goku replied, smiling lightheartedly, his mind being brought back to when he and Piccollo had fought against Raditz and Piccollo used the Special Beam Canon for the first time in actually combat. The end result was that Goku died along with his Saiyan brother, which one wouldn't think would be a particularly good memory, but for Goku it meant more than just his first time dying. If he had never died in that fight then he never would have met King Kai and learned how to use all sorts of techniques that had come in handy the past few years. If he hadn't learned from the Kai of Earth's quadrant then he was quite positive that taking down Freeza would have been nigh impossible.

Piccollo let out a begrudging chuckle. He too thought back to that fateful day. If it weren't for Goku's actions it is very likely that Raditz would have finished them both off and that right now Gohan would be doing Freeza's dirty work on some poor planet. His mind drifted off to Goku's son that he had become fond of. Gohan was possibly the Piccollo's closest friend, the only person that he had ever even considered dying for, and when the time had come he had. While his mind wandered he felt that something wrong was going on.

"Goku!" Piccollo shouted as he jumped to his feet. "That's Gohan's ki!"

Goku sat up and concentrated for a second and sensed his son's ki dropping at a higher rate than usual. He got to his feet as well, still panting.

"You're *heave* right!" Goku exclaimed. "We need to *heave* get to West *cough* City!" He moved one arm out towards Piccollo and the other to his head, extending two of his fingers at his forehead. Before Piccollo could reach him though he collapsed, falling to one knee. He coughed a few more times, the last throwing blood on the ground.

"Goku!" Piccollo yelled.

* * *

Vegeta could not believe his eyes. Standing before him was his father, the man he thought to be dead for almost thirty years now. His expression was just as Vegeta had remembered it, one of stern disappointment in his son. Vegeta was hit by a wave of emotions that he hadn't felt in years, decades maybe. The Saiyan King's black-brown hair curved down into his window's peak, accenting his stern expression. He let out a low growl as his tail uncurled from around his waist.

"You are a disgrace to your title as well as your name, you ungrateful weakling." King Vegeta began, disappointment clearly evident in his voice. "First you served under the man that killed our people for another twenty years, then you get beaten by a low-class warrior such as Kakarot! To further this insult you were killed by Freeza after all that talk of being the 'Great and Powerful Super Saiyan', but who got to that pinnacle before you even came close? That's right, Kakarot did, the son of Bardock, a lowly little warrior, not even a general and his damn brat became our race's savior before you."

"No, please, stop this father!" Vegeta was cringing at his father's words. Cooler had been using his body as a punching bag for the past hour but nothing hurt more than King Vegeta's reprimanding ."You should have amounted to something, You should have killed Freeza, torn his head from his body and mounted it on a stake. But you couldn't do that could you, you had to lie down and die." King Vegeta narrowed his eyes in disgust as his son tried to avert his gaze. "I should have sent you off to that remote planet instead of your bastard little brother. To rub salt on the wound Kakarot's abomination of a son reached Super Saiyan as well and humiliated you in front of everyone."

Vegeta thought back to his last few moments on Earth. The Gohan from the future had been able to completely over power him in a matter of seconds, without exerting himself at all it seemed. Vegeta clenched his hand, dragging some of the planet's blue-ish dirt along by his fingers. His father continued his verbal assault. "Now you retreated to these occupied planets to 'free them of Freeza's control'. We both know you came to hide your sorry face from the rest of the universe. You're going to again too now. Against Freeza's brother no less, nice to know that some things don't change at least."

No, Vegeta wasn't dead yet. Even if he was hanging on by a single thread he would fight until his last breath was dragged out of his lifeless body. Vegeta pounded the ground with his fist, something that required more strength than he had expected. He thought back to Earth. If he died here against Cooler he wouldn't ever be able to beat Kakarot. He would never be able to prove that he was better than that low class clown. His title as Prince of Saiyans truly would be nothing but a joke, a fake title for a fake prince.

Vegeta was getting angry. His energy began to swell. If he didn't make it back to earth he would never be able to kill the androids. He would never prove that he was better than his future self. In fact, he would be worse than his future self because he would never even get to fight the androids. The air around Vegeta began to ripple. Energy cackled around him as he slowly got on his knee, attempting to stand up. Cooler quit his laughing and turned around.

If he never made it back to Earth Vegeta would never see Bulma again. He didn't know why it bothered him so much, but for some reason it did. He would never again see her blue hair, her brilliance and hospitality, he would never wake up to see her standing over him after he exhausted himself training. Vegeta screamed. His power level rising every second. Cooler was taken aback for a moment but after regaining himself he rushed in at Vegeta, only to be blown back by the Saiyan's energy spike.

He **would **return to Earth. He **would** see Bulma again. He **would **destroy the androids with his own two hands. Most importantly though he **would** defeat that clown Kakarot and claim his rightful place as the strongest in the universe.

Vegeta's hair flashed golden yellow. And his eyes switched between their normal black and a light teal. His pain was alleviated for some reason with all these physical changes. Vegeta got up on both of his feet now, his energy blowing anything under a hundred pounds away with ease. Cooler stood a few yards away, bracing himself against the Saiyan Prince's increase in energy. He had no clue what this boost was. Vegeta knew what it was though, he had seen it before, he had been witness to the power he was now displaying.

"Get ready Cooler," Vegeta smirked, "you're about to face the Prince of all Super Saiyans! I will avenge my race through your death!"

* * *

Krillin lunged at General Blue. They had been in a stalemate earlier but Blue had gained the advantage by feigning a kick, then a punch and followed it by actually head-butting the bald monk. Now Krillin had to make sure that he wouldn't be at the disadvantage for long. He had discovered that Blue could now absorb ki blasts when he grabbed them with his hand. Krillin wasn't sure whether it was a new trick the once dead general had learned since their last encounter or whether it had something to do with the fact that where Krillin had severed his arm to save Gohan there were wires and metal instead of blood and flesh.

Gohan was behind Krillin with Yamcha by the young Saiyan's side. Both had been drained of almost three-fourths of their energy. Gohan had been drained the most and leaned on the taller fighter for support.

"Don't let him touch you Krillin! He can absorb the ki from your body!" Yamcha shouted, he was sure that his bald friend had figured out that their newly revived enemy could absorb his blasts but wanted to make sure that Krillin wasn't about to let him get any more energy.

"Yeah I gotcha!" The monk responded to his friend as he dodged Blue's attacks. Krillin had studied his opponent's moves long enough now that he knew when he should rush in and attack and when he should fall back and defend. Thanks to Yamcha he also knew that if Blue got ahold of him it was likely all over. After dodging a couple more punches he saw his entrance. He shifted over to Blue's open side and punched him in the side. Then he gave the old Red ribbon General a kick to the back that would have paralyzed any normal human.

"Haha you think you can beat me with that kind of attack?" Blue whipped around and kneed Krillin in the stomach. As he bent over Blue punched him across the face with his remaining arm. Krillin flew backwards but before he got too far Blue appeared behind him and grabbed him by the back of the neck. Krillin could feel his energy being pulled from his body. _Damn! I underestimated him! I jumped in too soon, serves me right I guess._

"You see? I'm superior to all of you! You can't stop me!" Blue yelled, gloating. He let out an evil laugh, none of these fighters could beat him individually and now they were all getting drained. Even with his arm cut off Blue was positive that this fight was all but over.

"H-how are you back?" Krillin managed to get out.

"What was that baldy?" Blue said mockingly. "Oh, how am I alive now? Well that's a secret little man. All you need to know is that I'm back to seek my revenge, I shall kill Son Goku and all he cares about will be squashed under my boot! Then the reign of the Red Ribbon Army will begin under the leadership of the brilliant Dr. Gero!" He laughed maniacally, it was cut short though by a kick to the back of the head. He let go of Krillin as he whipped around to confront whoever it was that attacked him.

Yamcha stood behind him, crouching slightly and panting a little bit still. He wore a half grin on his face, showing his pride in having taken the General by surprise. "You alright Krillin?" He asked the small fighter than now knelt on the ground in front of Blue.

"Yeah, I think so." The minute monk responded.

Blue analyzed the situation. He was outnumbered one to three and he had lost an arm. That was the negatives for the situation. Now for the positives, not only was he stronger than all three of them, he now had a bit of each of their ki, making him even more powerful. Gohan's energy was drained to nearly one eighth of his full power, Yamcha was about the same. Krillin had the highest amount with a little bit under half his maximum. Blue smirked, this would be fun.

* * *

Bulma still hung from her arms in the laboratory of Dr. Gero. She had been forced to watch every minute of the fight between Blue and the Z fighters, she had gained a little bit of hope in the moments that it appeared Krillin had the advantage but that hope imploded in upon itself when Blue turned it around again not seconds later.

"Do you see how futile resisting us is Ms. Briefs?" Dr. Gero said. Making sure that Bulma was still focusing on the screen.

"I'm going to ask you again, what do you want with me!?" Bulma yelled, ignoring Gero's earlier threats about yelling.

"Fine, if you're so eager I'll show you." Gero turned to look at a previously darkened part of the room, the bot carrying Bulma turned her so she matched the Doctor's gaze. Sitting in the corner was another person, toiling away building something. After a few second of staring she recognized him as Dr. Falcon, the man who had gone missing a while ago! He wore a beat up lab coat and some strange device around his neck. At both of his sides were robot arms that extended from the ceiling, they were each pointing guns at his head.

"What are you doing to him?" Bulma asked, shocked at his treatment of another human being.

"He is helping me achieve my goals, as you will do shortly and your father as soon as Blue returns with him." Gero saw the astonished look in her eyes and continued, "You see, I created many androids for the Red Ribbon Army before Goku destroyed it. I was a still far from a young man back in those days. Luckily I had been out of the facility the day that Goku destroyed it, I was one of the only ones to live on and carry the Red Ribbon dream on. Ever since that day I have been obsessed with getting my revenge on Goku and after that, I shall take over the world!" Gero's eyes shimmered evilly as he spoke.

"That still doesn't explain why you have brought me and Dr. Falcon here!" Bulma interjected. Dr. Gero glared at her.

"I don't like being interrupted Ms. Briefs." He said flatly. "Anyways, I continued to make androids after that day to further my goal, I knew I couldn't beat Goku myself after all. The first androids after that were all failures sad to say. That is until I got to Androids 17 and 18. They were the two perfect androids, they had infinite energy and they were incredibly strong. The only problem was they were uncontrollable. I was barely able to shut them down before they killed me. I couldn't find a way to fix them no matter what I tried. I was about to give up on them until I walked through the mountains one day and something hit me. It was a science magazine, that magazine gave me a genius idea. If I couldn't bring them under control myself, maybe I could with a little help from assisting parties." He motioned towards Dr. Falcon and then back towards Bulma.

"Never! I'll never help you!" Bulma yelled. Gero moved quicker than she could see as he put something else around her neck.

"With that collar on you won't have a choice, in a few days you will be under my control, well, your body will at least." He retorted.

"No!" Bulma screamed in horror.

"It won't however be able to control the volume of your voice, which has become quite irritating." With the same lightning quick speed he grabbed a rag and shoved it in Bulma's mouth. She gave him a look of pure hatred. The machine holding her began to drag her away.

"Once I put you in that machine over there I'll have all your knowledge in my computer as well! I'll be able to complete the androids in no time!" Gero laugh as Bulma was dragged kicking and mutedly screaming towards a strange looking device.

* * *

Krillin and Gohan facing Blue. They had tried almost everything but Blue was always coming out on top. They were now even lower on energy than they had been before. Gohan could barely manage to stand he was so low on energy. Krillin was reaching deep inside himself just to be able to block Blue's fists when they came flying through the air. Yamcha had passed out a few yards away after he had gotten smacked across the face and sent flying into a tree.

Blue on the other hand was just as good as before. After absorbing their energy Blue was more powerful than he had been when he first stepped foot in Capsule Corporation's premises. Even with the small amount of energy slowly seeping out of his missing limb he was much stronger than his opponents. He rushed in again and came between the two little fighters. He backhanded Gohan and kicked Krillin in the shoulder. Gohan landed on the ground a few feet away, he couldn't lift his body off the ground this time. Krillin was getting tossed around like a sack of flour now. Blue played around with him, knowing that in the current situation there was no way he could lose.

It was then that he finally paid attention to his sensors. A second to late though sadly. A ki blast collided with his face, blowing him back and taking him off guard. Krillin looked up and saw a familiar face looking down at him.

"Stay down Krillin, I'll take it from here."

"How dare you?!" Both heads turned to look at General Blue, now glaring daggers at the new entrant. Half of his face had been blown off, revealing the mechanical surface underneath.

* * *

_Wooooooooo! Chapter is up on the right day for once! I'm proud of myself slightly haha!_

_ So the first half of this chapter has to be my favorite part to write so far, Vegeta finally turning Super Saiyan, woot! I always disliked the canon version where Vegeta just went Super Saiyan because he was pissed he hit a 'wall of his own limits'._

_ Here are some power levels for you guys since a couple people asked for them. And yes I do use much lower levels than in canon for a couple reasons,mostly because there isn't such a leap in strength between Ginyu vs Goku and Freeza vs Goku. So here they are!_

_ Vegeta – 6,000,000_

_ After being curb-stomped – 2,000,000_

_ Cooler – 4,250,000_

_ Cooler fifth form – 7,250,000_

_ Gohan (full strength) – 4,000,000_

_ Krillin (full strength) – 4,000,000_

_ Yamcha (full strength) – 3,500,000_

_ Dr. Gero – 3,500,000_

_ Blue – 5,000,000_

_ Blue (Gohan and Yamcha energies absorbed) – 5,750,000_

_ And for the rest of the power levels stick around and find out! XD _

_ Hope this past chapter answered some of the questions you had! As always please leave a review and let me know what you think of the story! Drop your criticisms, praises, thoughts and/or feelings on dinosaurs._

_ Til next time! See ya all later!_


	7. Chapter 7: End of an Empire

_Hey everybody, happy Sunday! Hope you all had a good Fourth of July! Stick around until the end of the chapter for some exciting news!_

* * *

Vegeta took a step towards Cooler, feeling the powerful and different energy that pulsed through his body now. He could no longer feel any of his previous injuries, something that surprised him given that he still bled a slight amount from a couple of them. He cracked his knuckles as he continued towards the huge Arcosian.

Cooler backed away slowly, trembling slightly. Not even a minute ago the Saiyan 'Prince' was laying at his feet, hanging on to life by a single thread. Somehow though, after all that and some mumbling to himself, Vegeta had gotten up with no problems at all; it was like a demon possessed! Could this really be the fabled Super Saiyan? The same power that killed Frieza? Vegeta's aura was now a violent yellow, throwing debris everywhere. His hair had changed to a likewise color and his eyes were a bright teal.

Cooler shook his head after a second. He was being ridiculous; there is no way that Vegeta was now stronger than him. A monkey surpassing an Arcosian was idiotic to even think about. But, he looked into the harsh, unforgiving eyes of the Saiyan prince that had shifted from onyx to teal and tensed up once again. Taking a quick breath of air to focus, Cooler flung himself at the short Saiyan.

Vegeta couldn't be more excited as he saw Cooler coming at him, almost in slow motion. The Super Saiyan ducked down and delivered a punch to Cooler's gut that sent him flying upwards. Vegeta chased after him without hesitation and his newfound speed. He zipped in front of Cooler, smirked at the look of astonishment on the Ice Demon's face, and backhanded him back towards the ground. Cooler luckily corrected himself before he hit solid rock; he turned himself around and flew full speed back at Vegeta.

The two royals met in the middle of the previous space between them, not taking any time to slow down. Cooler threw an uppercut, trying to break the Saiyan's jaw, but Vegeta grabbed his opponent's fist before it made contact, grinning. Cooler scowled and did exactly what Frieza once did: spit in his opponent's face.

Ignoring the saliva that nearly hit him in the eye, Vegeta responded to the crude gesture by bringing his knee up at Cooler's chest. Knowing how painful it'd be if the kick connected, Cooler barely managed to use his free hand to grab the knee and flipped backwards. Dashing at one other once again, the two met with a fist, The two fighters shook the planet with each of their blows. Finally Vegeta grew tired of the stalemate, he drew his head back and with all his force butted it against Cooler's skull. The bigger of the two recoiled backwards.

Vegeta didn't let up, he flew in and punched Cooler across the face, the impact making a THACKKK noise. Vegeta knew that he could give his foe no quarter; even though Cooler couldn't sense power levels without a scouter, Vegeta could. He knew that although he overpowered the Arcosian, it wasn't by all that much. The two were close, but in the end, it would come down to who wanted it more, and at this moment, it was the prince of all Saiyans.

Remembering his anger at Frieza on Namek and how Frieza had wanted it more, Vegeta charged a ki attack in his hand as he flew towards his opponent and unleashed it just as he neared the giant fighter. Before the smoke cleared, Cooler burst out, his fists drawn quickly. Vegeta barely had time to put his guard up before Cooler began his onslaught of punches and kicks, each more powerful then the last. The tyrant managed to land a few direct hits in, but for the most part, Vegeta's guard held up, showing the Frost Demon just how powerful a Super Saiyan was. Cooler finally backed away, panting heavily.

"Do you feel that, Cooler? Do you feel your own weakness?" Vegeta gloated, taking joy in this very moment. He wouldn't be able to kill Frieza - no, the future version of Kakabrat had taken that opportunity from him. But, killing Frieza's brother was the next best thing.

"It can't be! This can't be happening! YOU WERE DEAD!" Cooler screamed. He was utterly perplexed, he was the strongest in the universe; he had to be! Without his father or brother around, there was no way he wasn't! He was prince Cooler of planet Arcos, the heir to the legendary King Cold, but a mere Saiyan was beating him. This had to be a dream…

"Yes, I was dead, wasn't I? But, out of the ashes of the old, weak, Vegeta's death rose me: the new and improved Super Vegeta! I'm here to right your wrongs, Cooler!" Vegeta phased forward and drove a fist into Cooler's gut, making the Arcosian cough blood up. "You want to know what else? I'm here to clean your family's slate of their debt to my people!" next was a kick to the hunched-over Cooler's legs, causing him to fall to his knees. "With your death your lineage will cease and the Colds will be no more! Only then, can the Saiyan race rest in peace," Vegeta concluded his speech with an Axe Handle attack, slamming both of his fists down on Cooler's head. As Cooler began to moan and complain, Super Saiyan Vegeta folded his arms, glaring at the fallen demon. "Now, are you going to put up a fight or are you going to die like a coward?"

* * *

Everyone on the field was shocked by what they saw, totally astonished. Standing in front of them was a mechanical man. Krillin had his suspicions when he had cut off Blue's arm, but others had been augmented with machine parts before; Mercenary Tao came to mind for example. Now he was positive though, General Blue was an android.

"P-Piccolo, he's an a-android!" Krillin managed to get out despite his energy loss. The Namekian shot him a dirty look.

"Don't you think I figured that out by now?" He yelled back at the bald monk. He brought his attention back to the android in front of him. Blue was still wailing about his face being blown off; he no longer resembled the man that they had fought so many years ago. Instead, he now looked exactly like he what he really was: a cyborg.

"I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT ONE!" Blue screamed. Piccolo smirked, he had heard that one before, and he had even uttered it once or twice in his lifetime. He was concerned a little bit though because he couldn't sense Blue's ki at all. It was almost like there was nothing there. The wise Namekian figured that Androids must have an artificial source of energy that hid them from his senses. He had also lost quite a bit of energy from training with Goku all day long. Between the two, he wasn't positive that the fight would turn out favorably. Scowling, Blue charged at him with all the android had left in the tank. Piccolo barely had enough time to dodge around Blue's weak side.

"Krillin, get up! I might need help with him!" He yelled at the short fighter. He turned to dodge Blue once again, but didn't move fast enough, Blue roundhouse kicked Piccolo to the face and sent him flying to the ground. The former Demon King hit the ground with a THUD and exhaled loudly.

"That's it, I've had enough of this." Piccolo raised two fingers to his forehead and concentrated. Blue reminded him a lot of Raditz, and it was only right that the two went out in the exact same way. While he didn't have as much time to charge it as he did when he fought Raditz, as long as Piccolo hit a vital part of the Android he'd be ok.

"No Piccolo don-" Yamcha couldn't finish his sentence before Piccolo finished his action.

"SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!" He shouted as he released the ki beam at his opponent. The yellow beam spiraled towards Android Blue faster than the eye could see. It's maroon aura streaked across the sky and lit up the surroundings. It made contact with Blue, made contact directly with his extended palm.

"No!" Krillin shouted.

* * *

Cooler knew he wasn't going to beat Vegeta with brute strength alone; he would have to rely on his knowledge as well. He was still perplexed as to how Vegeta could have started to beat him in such a short amount of time. Whatever caused such a power increase surely couldn't have been something that naturally came to Saiyans. The damn monkey must have gotten it from those Dragon Balls that Freiza's traitorous lieutenant Zarbon told Salza about. The irony of Frieza dying on Namek was that if he had won, he'd have won against the Saiyans and finally eliminated them. Then, Cooler would have ambushed him on his way back.

"You will soon regret your words, Vegeta!" The hulking figure said in his metallic voice. His body tensed as he prepared to strike. If he attacked directly then Vegeta was sure to counter the strike. Vegeta definitely had him outclassed on the agility factor of fighting with his new transformation. He needed to find some way to get around Vegeta's superior strength and put himself back on top. Then he formed a great idea, a way to strike Vegeta when his defenses were down and he was at his most vulnerable.

He lifted his hand and pointed two fingers towards his adversary. He focused some of his ki into the tips of his fingers; this would have to work. Vegeta jumped off of his perch and flew towards Cooler. "Take this!" He released the ki he had built up and sent it flying towards Vegeta. "Death Beam!"

Vegeta looked surprised as the ray came careening towards his chest. Cooler knew it, this was the attack that was going to end it, he had it in the bag. This would be the end of the great prince of Saiyans. There would be nothing standing in his way after this, the galaxy would be his, not that anything really stood in his way before. At the last second Vegeta filled his fist with ki and smacked the ray harmlessly away from him.

"Anymore tricks, Cooler?" Vegeta said cockily. "If that attack would have been just a little faster, then maybe, just maybe, you may have had a chance in hitting me." He cracked his neck both ways before continuing. "So, you miserable lowlife, are you ready for the next round or what?"

Cooler was aghast at the realization that this monkey may beat him. He was running out of options and didn't know what to try next. He knelt on the ground in front of Vegeta; he had to buy some time so he could think of what to do next.

"Vegeta, here's my proposal: you come and work for me. You've already taken out my elite guard, you can take their place!" The Arcosian pleaded. Bartering was in his blood, he was sure that he could convince Vegeta to join him!

Vegeta snorted as he looked at the brother of the tyrant who enslaved him for his whole life. Amazing how they could act all high and mighty until someone stronger came along. Then, they showed their true colors. "As if I'd accept such a position! I'm superior to you in every way, shape and form. Unless you have another new transformation that you'd like to show me, I'll be finishing you off now." Vegeta stuck his hand out towards his opponent.

"N-no, wait! We can rule together, side-by-side! The galaxy with tremble under our rule! Planets will be ours for the picking, entire systems will succumb to out glorious power!" Cooler was now grasping at straws, sadly.

"I have no interest in galactic rule, I only desire to avenge my honor and make the Arcosians pay for the genocide of my people." Vegeta started to charge an energy attack in the palm of his hand, forming a sphere of ki that was a bright blue.

Cooler had to strike now; he had no other options. He shot forward, risking his entire life in this one attack. Vegeta was so surprised that he launched his blast before it was fully charged. The attack, unfortunately for Vegeta, missed Cooler for the most part, but tore off one of the shoulder arches that had formed in his recent transformation. Cooler, not even taking the time to howl in pain, punched Vegeta twice in the ribs and kicked him in the side of the head. Vegeta flew to the left but Cooler used his speed to catch up and wrap his tail around the Saiyan's neck. He held his foe in front of him.

"How do you feel now, Vegeta? Regret not taking me up on that offer?" Cooler taunted as he pummeled Vegeta over and over. "You were on top before but now where are you? You're being slaughtered by me and I'm going to kill you nice and slowly. The last threat to my empire will be gone!"

Cooler laughed as he continually beat the Saiyan Prince, reveling in the monkey's pain. That is, until Vegeta stopped feigning pain and smirked back at Cooler, showing the smirk only a monster could come up with. The evil Arcosian was taken aback.

"Surprised?" Vegeta grabbed a section of Cooler's tail that was between him and the monster and punched it with the other hand. His hand went straight through it, purple blood covering his white glove. "Oops," he said half genuinely and half mockingly, "I only meant to break the bones in it, not go right through. Looks like I don't even know my own strength anymore!"

Vegeta opened his hand that was partially through the tail and formed a shroud of energy around it. He ripped his hand out while increasing the area of the energy, completely severing the end of his tail from the rest of his body. Cooler screamed at the top of his lungs in pain, having never felt anything like this before in his life. Loving the pain his opponent was in, Vegeta smirked and unwrapped the lifeless appendage from around his neck. He tossed it back at it's previous host, but before it reached the tyrant he pointed two fingers at it and launched a blast at it, obliterating the remainder of the tail in front of Cooler's eyes.

"You know, Cooler, you can always tell that tale in Hell to Frieza," Vegeta joked, grinning.

The Arcosian looked in horror. There was only one way to make it out of this alive. Cooler eyed the caves behind him that he'd noticed earlier. Was it cowardly? Somewhat, but at this moment, all that mattered was surviving.

* * *

Krillin hadn't been able to stop Piccolo in time from unleashing his most powerful attack at their enemy. He watched hopelessly as the corkscrew-like attack went right into the android's hand. Krillin held out his hope, maybe the attack was enough to kill Blue or maybe it was too much for him to absorb. He could sense the energy in Piccolo's attack and knew that while the Namekian hadn't put all of his strength into it, he had made it extremely powerful.

His hopes were dashed when the energy beam subsided and Blue was still standing there with his arm outstretched. He started laughing hysterically at the fighters that dared to face him. His body jerked backwards and then he doubled over. His fists clenched as tight as he could. The buttons on his military uniform started to pop off, the threads tearing a bit around the seams as well. His skin tore a bit in some places as well, the bits flying to the ground.

"That…doesn't seem very good." Krillin gulped. Blue now had electricity the same color as his name coming out of the tears in his skin. He was now at least twice as muscular as he was before hand. He flexed his new muscles and tested his new abilities.

"So," he looked over at the Namekian and the bald monk, each of whom did not have a positive look on their face. "Are you ready for me to kill you now?"

"Piccolo, I think you were right about use having to work together," Krillin said. Both fighters got up into their favored stances. Piccolo's mind raced as he tried to create some sort of strategy so they could defeat the android. They were both dangerously low on energy, they couldn't let him touch them and they couldn't use ki, this would be tricky.

"Krillin, can he absorb ki with anything other than his hands?" Piccolo asked his ally.

"I…don't know. Now that you mention it, when I came he had Gohan and Yamcha in his hands and anytime I launched ki blasts at him, he would either dodge them or use his hand to grab them. That must be how he's taking it all in!" Krillin responded, almost slapped himself for not seeing it before. "So, attack him together?"

Piccolo nodded and they both rocketed off towards Blue. Piccolo was the first to reach him and he sidestepped around him, making sure to avoid his still attached arm. He kicked as hard as he could right at the android's side…it did completely nothing. Blue laughed before he backhanded the green fighter across the yard and into the Capsule Corp building.

Frowning, Krillin arrived at him just as Piccolo was sent flying away. He flipped up above the android and punched with all his might at the android's head. Once again it did nothing at all. Blue looked at Krillin and shot two lasers from him eyes; the small monk barely dodged it in time. Lucky for the monk, it nicked the shoulder of his gi instead of hitting a key organ.

"Krillin, get down!" For the second time in a minute Krillin had to drop to the ground to avoid getting hit by a ki blast. Blue saw the fighter crouching and kicked him in the ribs, sending him flying into the trees surrounding Capsule Corp.

A massive amount of ki blasts erupted from where Piccolo had landed. They all hung in the air around Blue, they lit up the air like hundreds of streetlights. The Namekian stepped out of the hole he had made in the building.

"Try absorbing all of these, asshole."

"Huh?" Piccolo clenched his fist and all of the blasts rushed in at Blue, impacting him at the same time. The explosion was as loud as a steam engine and it made half the town light up like it was mid-day. Piccolo smirked as he saw his technique in effect. He knew that working on it with Goku would have paid off but he never would have dreamed that it would have paid off so soon. It had pretty much drained him though; he started to shrink towards the ground.

The smoke cleared away from the impact area slowly, the light from the blasts had faded away, leaving the battlefield dark once again. A laugh started from somewhere unseen. It got progressively louder and louder as the air became more clear.

"You thought that would kill the great General Blue?" Standing in the clearing, where the epicenter of the blast should have been was Blue, damaged and brought back to his original size, but still standing. "I will kill you all and return to Dr Gero with your heads on stakes!"

"KAMEHAMEHA!" A huge bright blue beam engulfed Blue before he could make another move, silencing the Android.

* * *

Cooler desperately looked for an opening to make his break for it. He was many years older than Vegeta and therefore had that much more experience. He called upon all that experience, all the fights he had been in to form a coherent plan that could get him out of it. After a moment of thinking, he had it! He gathered some ki in his hand and threw it at Vegeta's face. While the proud prince threw his hand up to protect himself, Cooler raced past him towards the caverns behind the two.

_Damn_, Vegeta thought to himself, _I should have just dodged that blast as I had originally planned_! His increased arrogance made him make the decision that he should just block it to show his superiority. He mentally kicked himself for that one and turned around to see where Cooler went.

Even if he hadn't been able to sense ki, he would have been able to track Cooler no problem, a trail of purple blood sporadically peppered the ground every few feet until the entrance of a cavernous structure. "Fool."

Vegeta revved his ki and took off towards Cooler. His aura chipped away at the sides of the cave tunnels that he flew through in his pursuit of Cooler. The tunnels wound their way around in a maze of forks and dead ends. Finally Vegeta spotted a speck of purple up ahead of him. He smirked again as he kicked up his speed to catch up with the Arcosian. Cooler must have been catching on to him because he took every single turn that he could in order to lose him.

Vegeta was getting sick of this nonsense! He knew he was on the right track but he hadn't seen Cooler in the past couple of minutes. Suddenly he felt Cooler's ki stop; he had him this time. After another two left turns, a curve up and a turn to the right he saw the light at the end of the tunnel, literally. He increased his speed and burst out into a clearing.

Cooler was a couple hundred feet above Vegeta hovering. Above him was a gargantuan orange sphere of purely destructive energy. Vegeta looked up and gazed upon it in awe and horror.

"I can generate energy much faster than my little brother could, Vegeta. Now, are you ready to die? If you dodge the planet will just blow up, can you survive that? I can, hah!" he yelled out in his metallic tone. He moved his outstretched arm downwards, pointing straight at Vegeta. The massive blast followed its master's command and descended towards the Saiyan prince.

"Damn it all!" Vegeta yelled as he threw his arms up to brace himself for the coming blast. The energy touched Vegeta's hands and he immediately felt the weight of it crushing down on his body. He had tremendous strength thanks to his transformation into a Super Saiyan, but quite a bit of it had been used up already. He may have acted like what Cooler did wasn't affecting him at all, but in reality they were much closer in strength than he would have liked to admit. He sent all the ki he had into his hands to send the blast back at Cooler. Vegeta's dark blue energy began conflicting with the bright orange of Cooler's. The two energies clashed with one another, becoming almost evenly in the middle of their two owners. Neither was making any headway against the other; they were in a perfect stalemate.

_I refuse…to let…another Arcosian…beat me! _Vegeta revved up every bit of energy he could and shoved it into the beam he was pushing through. The extra energy started pushing the blast Cooler had sent down back at the tyrant.

"How is this happening? I'm supposed to be more powerful than this!" Cooler screamed. He put all of his energy into his blast as well. He would not allow himself to be beaten by this little monkey. He released the energy into his blast, pushing it back at Vegeta.

Vegeta felt his energy starting to run out. He had no energy left to put into the beam. Slowly but surely Cooler's blast made it's way towards Vegeta. Inch by inch, Vegeta saw himself losing the struggle.

"I had to come back already? Seems like even as a Super Saiyan you are worthless." Vegeta glanced over and noticed his father standing next to him, again. "Little Super Trash Vegeta. You aren't worthy of my name."

"Damn it, not you again! I told you to shut up once already! Don't you ever listen?" Vegeta yelled, his father's words motivated him, not that he'd ever admit it. He strove to prove the old man wrong. He drew energy from every reserve he had, every fiber of his being and pushed it into the beam. Vegeta knew that this would be the end of the fight, one way or another. He would either die here or he would use every last ounce of energy at his disposal and finish off the brother of Frieza.

It seemed to be enough; Vegeta's beam pushed back against the orange sphere of destructive force and began to shoot it back towards Cooler faster than it had been before. Vegeta let out a smirk as he realized he could win this.

Cooler realized it as well. He had no energy left to put in the attack and he knew it. His attack was rushing back up at him, soon it would be over taking him.

Vegeta pushed one final time, sending the blast into Cooler and beginning to push even the mighty Arcosian backwards.

"That's it, now die you piece of filth!" The last of Vegeta's energy flooded into his beam, the orange blast Cooler had created began to turn the same shade of dark blue as Vegeta's beam. Finally it burst into the atmosphere, giving Cooler no way to push back against it. In minutes the blast enveloped him and the brother of the great and terrible Freiza was no more.

As soon as Vegeta sensed his foe's energy he let up and lowered his arms. He panted as his body dropped to the ground and he slowly lost consciousness. But, as the bruised and bloody prince fell to the ground, a smirk could be seen on his face – a smirk that would have made his Saiyan ancestors proud.

* * *

_Alright had a whole bunch of action this chapter! Cooler has finally been killed and the fight with Android Blue is coming to its close. Stick around next time to find out the conclusion of the fight, figure out what's in store for Vegeta and check up on everyone's favorite time traveler (admit it, he's at least in the top two!)._

_As I said at the beginning of the chapter I have some exciting news! As you may have noticed that there is a **drastic **improvement in this chapter in grammar, syntax and, well, basically everything! That is because the great, the spectacular, the one and only Full Power has joined the Ripple Effect team! Full Power is going to edit all of the installments of Ripple Effect for the foreseeable future! Everybody should cheer and/or do the Bernie because this means that the Ripple Effect story is going to be better than ever as we get into the real good part of the story. Full Power is the author behind The Prince's Return and Second Chance, both of which are awesome stories that are more than worth your time to go and check out! I promise you won't be disappointed, unless of course you hate fantastic writing and amazing fight scenes for some reason. So, right after you finish reading this and leave your much appreciated review *cough*cough* go check them out!_

_Responses to Reviews:_

_Elleelle - Thank you! I really enjoyed writing Vegeta's transformation, it was something that I wish we could have seen in canon. I also didn't like how Vegeta never got to defeat any of Freiza's kin, Meta Cooler not included. _

_Aleaster - Glad that my depiction of Vegeta's transformation fit into your criteria! :) Also, I am an idiot. I cannot believe I put that extra 'l' in Piccolo's name for six chapters. Thanks for pointing out!_

_Flash - Hopefully the next few chapters will help answer why Future Gohan is a little different than he is portrayed in canon. Thanks for the words of encouragement!_

_Hope everyone has a fantastic week and will join us next time for Ripple Effect chapter 8! Later!_


	8. Chapter 8: The Future is Now

The city was in ruins; buildings lay decimated around their previous foundations. The epic battle that had taken place here surely took its toll on the surroundings. A billboard featuring a hairy man with an afro giving a thumbs up and grinning had been damaged enough that it now read "Hell City, Enjoy!'.

_Devastating. _That is exactly what the fighter clad in an orange gi was thinking as he lay in a large puddle of water, his eyes wide open. T_his really was Hell._

They were both walking towards him; there was nothing he could do about it and they knew it. He tried to get up but realized that he was missing both arms. A significant amount of blood poured from where his arms used to be. They were the victors of this fight and they knew it; they weren't about to let him live this time. He felt truly afraid.

Finally, the fear that the fighter possessed gave him enough adrenaline to leap to his feet. He stumbled backwards a few steps before he at last gained a stable footing. To his dismay, he discovered that he could not fly, which was shocking because he had been accustomed to being able to fly for so long. The negatives just kept adding up for the fighter as he tried to escape the terror of his unnatural foes. As he backed up, more fatigue began to set in and as a result, something caught his foot. When he looked down, he saw a green man coming up from the ground, holding him back.

"Why weren't you stronger?" The alien moaned. Gohan, scared beyond belief, struggled and kicked downwards at the ghost and managed to get free. He ran down two more blocks before he made a sharp right turn. As he sprinted by he came to a dead end; walls on all sides. As he froze up ,two men came out of opposite walls at him, one had short, spiked black hair and the other was much smaller and bald. Both wore similar orange gis.

"Why haven't you avenged us?" Both men shrieked at the top of their lungs.

"I-I tried! Believe me, I have been trying ever since that day!" They continued to try and overwhelm him, but he used a Kiai that shot out from his entire body to blow them away. He heard footsteps and started to run down the alley, when he was almost all the way down, he turned around so he was back peddling. Before he saw anyone come around the corner he heard something from the wall behind him.

"Dammit boy, where is your pride?!" he whipped around to see another man emerging from the wall behind him. He had long hair that stood straight up and had no eyes.

"You don't understand, I'm the only one remaining! You all left me alone!" He cried out. The man grabbed his head and turned him to face down the alley again. The ageless teenagers were nearly halfway down the alley already.

"You let my legacy perish, I trusted you!" The man almost broke down after that last one. Green hands once again gripped his legs and the two men from before jumped out and grabbed his sides. His foes were almost upon him and he was left completely open. In the blink of an eye they both melded into one boy with lavender hair. He drew a blade from seemingly nowhere.

"You didn't save me!" He screamed.

"I'm sorry!" The man yelled back. The lavender haired boy started to run towards him at a quick pace.

"It should have been you! I shouldn't have died, you should have! You had your chance and you blew it, it's not fair! You were never a good enough teacher! You always talked about Piccolo and how good of a tutor he was…I bet he'd be ashamed at how you were of a teacher to me. If my father would have survived instead, he would have taught me and we would have won! I should have been the one to live!" He yelled as he drew nearer.

"I KNOW!" the man said as the sword tip pierced his skin and went straight through his heart. "I'M SORRY!"

* * *

Gohan woke up in a cold sweat, shaking. It wasn't the first time he had a nightmare like that and it certainly wouldn't be the last. He lifted his right arm up and traced his left shoulder, over the stump that used to be his left arm. Gohan's mind wandered back to the day that he lost his limb. He still hated himself for his failure that day and going back into the past just solidified that self-hatred. Seeing everyone that he lost in the past decade had reminded him how weak he used to be, how powerless he was before they came.

It was nearing the day that he would head back to the past. Soon, he would see them all again, he just wished it were his timeline's version of them. He couldn't wait to be around them, especially his father and mentors. Piccolo, Krillin…the half-Saiyan was anxious to see them.

He threw on his orange pants and blue boots, wiggling his toes around to make sure that it was comfortable enough. Then he glanced down at his blue under shirt, the same one that his father had worn many years prior. This was a much more difficult task than others would think, putting a shirt on with just one arm. Even after a few years of having to do it he still somewhat dreaded doing this. Somehow, he always managed to screw it up and put his good arm into the sleeve that was sewed together. Bulma had sewed them shortly after the injury, Gohan was grateful at first, but after a few days trying to get the shirts on normally he began to get irritated with it. He didn't want to mention it to Bulma; their relationship was already tense enough without her thinking he didn't appreciate her handiwork.

Finally he managed to slip the shirt on and pull his lone wristband on. He stepped into his bathroom and began to brush his teeth. He glanced up into his mirror and saw his face. He looked into his own eyes and saw what he always saw: pain, suffering, regret and hatred, not only for the androids, but for himself as well. He hated that he hadn't been stronger and let everyone down. Above all those, though, he saw hope, his hope for the future that no matter what happened the androids would never take from him.

His gaze moved across his face to the scar that ran up his left eye. He chuckled to himself slightly, if he were to copy the right side of his body over the left, he would be perfect, no scars and no missing limbs. Luckily, his vision wasn't impaired by the healing cut.

He quickly splashed some cold water on his face and spat his toothpaste out. Gohan stepped out of the beat down two-room apartment that served as his residence. The room was about two floors below ground in a bunker.

It was nice that Briefs had made the bunker underneath Capsule Corp during the Red Ribbon Army's first grab for power; it served as housing for survivors now. The bunker itself was really quite big, having five separate levels that each had about twenty rooms and large main lobby. All of the rooms on the bottom two floors were filled with families and about half on the 3rd floor from the top.

Gohan had placed himself closest to the top in case the androids ever discovered the bunker's location, he would be able to react before very many people got hurt. In addition to a lobby area, the bottom two floors also had a two-story laboratory built in that allowed Bulma to continue engineering devices that helped the survivors. Without her, everyone would be dead by now; they probably wouldn't have even lasted a month. By the graces of fate, they had not only Bulma to make life easier but also Gohan who kept the androids a fair distance away. Lucky for them, they had managed to live for almost sixteen years and began to rebuild their society.

Gohan stepped into the elevator and smacked the button for the bottom floor. He still had a couple of chores to do before he would head out for the past soon. There was no background music on the elevator, just silence. Luckily silence was something Gohan was used to, and it was also under half a minute to travel from the second floor to the fifth, not much traffic.

The doors slid open and Gohan stepped out. The fifth floor lobby wasn't huge, but it was considerably bigger than the single room Gohan slept in. There were couches around the room in a circle and a coffee table in the middle. On one wall hung a flat screen that was connected to a video player. They wanted to keep some parts of the normal life.

One person sat in the room facing away from Gohan on a couch. It was a blonde haired girl named Ayla; she was fifteen years old, born shortly after her parents arrived at the bunker. She was the first person born in their little colony and Gohan remembered it pretty well. Trunks would play with her almost everyday before Gohan took him into training. She turned her head to look at him.

"Oh, hey, Gohan! How are you today?" She asked, smiling. Her tone was cheerful as always.

"Good morning, Ayla, I'm doing pretty good so far, still kind of early to tell." He gave her a friendly smirk. "Any chance you know where Bulma is?"

"Yes, she's working in the lab and doesn't want to be disturbed. She told me to tell you that you need to go to East City."

"What?! East City? What does she need there?" Gohan was taken aback. Usually, Bulma tried to keep everyone away from where the androids had been spotted last. East City seemed to be right on their current warpath.

"Yeah, something about Plutonium for the time machine. You need about four kilos of it., the girl replied, handing him a slip of paper. "Here's where you can find it."

* * *

Vegeta's eyes shot open. He was vertical, standing in some cylinder full of light teal fluid with a tube coming down over his mouth. Despite his injuries, the Saiyan prince grinned to himself. It had been quite some time since he had been in a healing tank.

He knocked on the glass, letting whoever was outside know that he was conscious again. The prince was careful to not knock too hard because otherwise it would break. After half a minute of waiting, he knocked again, this time harder. If someone wasn't here in the next five seconds, he was going to blow the glass out and release himself!

"'Old on would you?" The fluid began to drain from the tank. As it got near his knee, the glass door swung open and Vegeta ripped off the tube from his mouth. "'Ow do you feel?"

Vegeta stepped out and turned to see who released him, though he suspected that he knew already. Standing at the controls was a short man with blue skin and yellow hair. The man, just like most aliens he had seen lately, wore a scouter.

"You," Vegeta spat, glaring at Salza intensely. His onyx eyes met the eyes of the blue-skinned being in front of him. "Why did you heal me?" Vegeta yelled as he grabbed Salza by the collar of his armor and threw him against the wall. He raised his fist in preparation to pound the alien's face in.

"So, zees is ow you treat zee man zat saved you…" The blue man chuckled. "You Saiyans are all zee same."

"What? Why did you save me?" Vegeta was shocked by the response to his initial question.

"You are stronger zan I, zere is no way I could av' beaten you. I only worked for Cooler because ee was zee strongest zat I knew of. I surrender to your rule, Prince Vegeta." As Vegeta dropped Salza the weaker of the two knelt down in front of him on one knee.

"Get up, the only people I wish to rule are the Saiyans. And that's a group of people that would be hard pressed to find nowadays." Vegeta started walking out the door.

"Where are you going?" Salza stuttered out. Vegeta looked back and gave a smirk.

"To my planet. I'll be taking one of the escape pods." Vegeta started to walk out before stopping and turning back. "You have my thanks for putting me in the healing tank, but if I ever see you again, I will put my fist straight through your non existent spine."

Salza swallowed audibly, trembling as he watched the Saiyan prince walk away.

* * *

Gohan took a step outside from the Capsule Corp building. He checked around every corner before taking off. He didn't want the androids to find the bunker and all the people in it. If they did, it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Once he was sure that the area was secure, he took off into the sky.

East City was several hundred miles away from West City and he had to fly high into the mesosphere so the androids couldn't see him. Finally he got to where the mesosphere, the air was pretty thin but his lungs could take it. This was going to be a fun trip…hopefully uneventful as well.

He looked down from his flight and saw the remains of a city. His mind began racing.

_Gohan flew in and landed next to Krillin. They were on the outskirts of a large prosperous city, well, not so prosperous anymore. There was a massive amount of smoke coming from the middle of the city and screams could be heard even though they were about half a mile away. They had all come for the same reason._

_Suddenly, and without warning, Yamcha's ki had vanished, along with a thousand other smaller ki signatures. Piccolo was the first to arrive, followed by Tien and Chiaotzu, then Krillin and finally, Gohan. After a few moments, Vegeta landed next to them. None of them had seen the Prince of Saiyans since Goku's death almost half a year ago._

_His father's death...it was something that still weighed heavy on all of them. Nervous glances were shared between the Z fighters. They weren't sure if they could handle this without Goku around…everyone except Vegeta, that is. He stood at the head of the group, looking directly into the city, right towards where the explosions were happening._

_"Are we just going to stand here or are we going to do something?" Everyone turned to see Yajirobe walking up from behind them._

_"We can't sense what – or who- is doing this," Tien stated bluntly. Gohan could sense the tension in the air. His father was the glue that held the group together, without him most of them were just acquaintances. Vegeta had the least ties to the Z fighters besides the fact that Gohan shared part of the same race._

_"I may not be able to sense ki regardless and I may not be a warrior, but wouldn't Goku have gone in there no matter what to save those people?" Yajirobe's words were straight to the point and cut everyone to the wick. Piccolo was the first to respond. He smirked slightly before turning back to the city._

_"No, Goku set the bar too high for those left to fight for Earth. Damn him." He levitated off the ground before blasting into the air and flying towards the city. Vegeta scoffed. The Namekian wasn't going to upstage him, not today. He revved his ki before launching in after the green alien. Krillin and Gohan nodded at each other and flew off after them. Finally Tien and Chiaotzu defied the laws of gravity and shot into the city under siege as well._

_"Scatter! It's the only way to find whoever is doing this!" Gohan could hear Piccolo yell. The smoke was heavy and they could only see if they were on the ground. Gohan sprinted along the left side of a block as Krillin went in a parallel motion 40 yards away from him. The visibility was horrid even from the streets. Both smoke and screaming people running everywhere played a big part in it. He still couldn't sense whatever was causing all this terror. Was it possible that it was just some human terrorist cell of some kind? Suddenly there was a huge explosion a few blocks to the West of Gohan's current position. That must be it! His thoughts were confirmed a second later when he heard his mentor's voice in his head 'Found them! Get here now!'_

_Gohan and Krillin rushed in just in time to see Piccolo crash into a wall. He stepped up and wiped the dirt from his shoulders. Gohan caught his gaze and followed it over to two teenage looking figures step out of the smoke from a nearby explosion._

_One was a boy that had jet-black hair, he wore a grey t-shirt over a long sleeved white shirt. On his left side was a symbol that looked like a red bowtie with two 'R's in it. He had blue jeans and green socks on. Gohan thought he looked a little off when compared to other teenagers he had seen, like his clothing was from a decade or two ago. His sister fit in a little bit better. She was blonde and wore a jean jacket and matching skirt. Under them she wore black leggings and a black shirt._

_As off as they seemed to Gohan before, once they got closer he was even more taken aback. Their eyes were both icy blue and lifeless. Gohan got chills down his spine when he saw them. There was no question in his mind; hey were the cause of the city's demolition._

_Piccolo spat out some blood and charged at the two teens again. The boy smirked and disappeared. Gohan thought for a second that he'd used the Instant Transmission technique his father had discovered, but realized that the black haired boy was just that fast. He appeared behind Piccolo and chopped him in the back of his neck. The Namekian dropped to the ground immediately. The girl raised her hand and charged up a ki attack._

_"No!" Gohan screamed. Time seemed to slow down. The boy turned his head towards the half-Saiyan boy and smirked. The girl smiled as well and them pushed her hand down. The yellow energy flew and exploded on Piccolo's back. Gohan felt his mentor's ki flicker out. Tears welled up in his eyes as he fell to his knees. Beside him, Krillin got into a fighting stance, ready to duke it out with Piccolo's killers. He knew he didn't stand a chance, but he would have to try. A gloved hand appeared on the bald monk's shoulder._

_"Stand down, I'll handle this." Vegeta said in his usual gruff voice. Vegeta shot off towards the duo and punched the boy in the face, to no effect. The unusual boy began to laugh as he grabbed Vegeta by the arm and flung him into the ground, still gripping the Saiyan Prince's arm. Then he picked him up again and flung him at a nearby building. Vegeta barely corrected himself in time before he smashed into the seventh floor._

_He flew out, holding his bleeding right shoulder. "Alright, you've managed to really piss me off. No you're going to face my full power. The power of a Super Saiyan!" Gohan and Krillin were shocked by the prince's declaration. Could Vegeta really turn into a Super Saiyan, the same as Goku?_

_The Saiyan Prince gathered his ki as the air around him began to shoot out in every direction. Rocks and debris from the ground levitated up, and the ground beneath parted. His hair slowly turned a bright yellow and his eyes became teal. His expression was twice as aggressive and cocky as usual._

_"Now, who's going to try their luck at fighting the great Saiyan Prince, Vegeta?" He crossed his arms and looked down at the two opponents. Krillin and Gohan were awestruck; there was no way Vegeta could lose now. He was stronger than Goku had been before he died._

_The boy jumped up and got level with Vegeta. "What's your name, boy? I'd like to know what to write on your tombstone."_

_"My name is Seventeen. I assume I can just write 'Dumbass' on yours, correct?" 17 smirked as he saw the look off pure hate on Vegeta's face. Vegeta rushed in at 17, fists flying. The strange boy caught every single attack that Vegeta threw at him. Vegeta got more and more frustrated with each passing second. Finally 17 appeared to get bored with him and raised both his fists into the air, interweaving his fingers together and bringing them down on Vegeta's skull, sending him plummeting to the ground. 17 looked down at him and formed a huge energy ball on his palm. Vegeta just had enough time to open his eyes and look up before the blast was upon him._

_The girl looked over at Krillin and Gohan after the smoke cleared away. "You ready boys?"_

_Krillin moved into a defensive pose a second too late. She buried her fist into his gut and brought her opposite leg up and around to kick Krillin in the head. He immediately sprawled across the ground, unconscious. She charged up some energy between her palms. Gohan wouldn't let this happen again. He charged over at her with his fists at the ready. Suddenly he stopped in place, just inches from his target. He looked back and saw 17 grabbing his leg. The black haired boy spun in place a few rotations before letting go and sending Gohan into the base of a skyscraper. It came tumbling down on the small boy who jumped up as soon as he realized what was happening. He wasn't fast enough though, he got caught on the edge of the fallen building, stuck under two slabs of cement and multiple cast iron rods. His strength failed him and he dropped into unconsciousness just as he saw Krillin get turned into shreds by an energy wave._

* * *

Krillin approached the area where Android Blue had been. He was apprehensive about his foe. So far, he had survived two of Piccolo's strongest attacks and his Kamehameha may not have been enough to finish the Aryan-like robot. The smoke cleared and there was nothing. The sun was just peaking over the horizon and the battle was finally done. The bald monk stumbled over to Gohan and lifted him onto his shoulder.

"Wha? Wha's goin' on?" Gohan slurred.

"It's alright, champ, we won." Krillin reassured his best friend's son. He hoisted Gohan up and carried him into the Capsule Corp main lobby. He laid him on a couch, his strength not letting him carry him any further. He returned outside and did the same with Yamcha, Piccolo and Dr. Briefs. Finally, after half an hour of moving people around, Krillin sat in one of the seats next to his allies and slumped down.

Luckily it was a Sunday and the main building was not going to be open, otherwise the receptionist would walk in on a bloody surprise. It wouldn't be so bad if she weren't a new employee. She was a red head and kind of cute and Krillin thought about asking her on a date before passing out.

* * *

_When Gohan woke up the sun was setting over the smoldering ruins of the city. He was still pretty weak, the concrete was pushing down on his back. He could hardly sense anyone. They had either left without Gohan or they were no longer in the realm of the living. Gohan didn't want to believe either option. He maneuvered his arms so they were under his chest and pushed upwards with all his might. The slabs moved just enough to allow the young fighter to wiggle his way out. He lay on the ground for a few seconds, assessing the damage his body had taken. He could feel his left leg was in terrible shape, his left arm was bleeding somewhat badly as well, lifting the cement couldn't have helped that at all. His back felt like some one had used it as a drum, which wasn't surprising considering he had toppled a building with it. Gohan managed to stand, his leg may be damaged, but he could still put a little weight on it. He cradled his bleeding arm with his better one._

_He limped around the battlefield, it was horrifying. There weren't any buildings left over two stories tall. Bodies were strewn about the ground everywhere, some still in one piece, others weren't so lucky. Gohan remembered the last sight he had before passing out, one of his best friends being blown into nothingness by those two teenagers. His eyes began to water, he wouldn't break down here though, not while the enemy may still be around. Suddenly he felt something. It wasn't strong, but there was a familiar ki signature somewhere nearby. It wasn't strong enough to determine who's it was, but it was definitely there. Gohan rushed over to where it was and saw a large pile of rubble. He had to act fast, the signature was slowly but surely fading away. He blasted away part of the debris and once it got down low enough he started to pull it off with his hands._

_After nearly fifteen minutes of digging he finally uncovered the weak ki signature. A man in a blue jumpsuit and white armor lay on the ground, his hair was yellow and there was red all around him._

Gohan snapped back to reality as he came to East City. He descended into the old wreckage, scanning the surroundings for the androids. He took out the sheet of paper he had gotten from Bulma and followed the directions to an old warehouse type of building.

* * *

Vegeta sat in the escape pod that came out of Cooler's ship, taking note of his surroundings. It was much nicer than the Saiyan pods he had traveled in all his life and it was much roomier. Instead of the spherical shape of the Saiyan pods, this was more of an elongated white pyramid. There was a black strip that went across the front of the pod with a yellow fin at the top. Salza had mentioned mounting Cooler's head on the front of the pod and while Vegeta liked the sound of that, he didn't want to come off as some sort of jackass.

_A head on a pod? Please, if I wanted to do that, I'd have a giant ship created for me, _Vegeta thought, smirking as he heard Cooler pleading for mercy once more.

Soon, he would be back on Earth. Soon, he would have his fight with Kakarot. Now that he was a Super Saiyan, there would be no chance that he would lose against that clown now. He would finally get his revenge on that low-class warrior for humiliating him, taking his birthright! That bastard would pay!

* * *

Gohan had gotten the Plutonium with no incident, which was pretty rare. They would be surprised when he came back to the bunker with no life threatening injuries. He somewhat wanted to go find the androids, but he knew there was a chance they might end their decade long game with him and finish the half Saiyan off for good. He flew as fast as he could' he was almost halfway back now. In the satchel that hung off his side was the Plutonium, multiple batteries and a new set of tools for Bulma. He also found a relatively undamaged stuffed bear that he could give to the newest child born to their colony, Marek.

He scanned around West City before landing in front of Capsule Corp and hurrying inside. He jabbed the fifth floor button as soon as he entered into the hidden elevator. The ride down was silent and short, he stepped out to find no one in the lobby. It didn't really surprise him, and most of the families went to sleep fairly early. He walked quickly down the halls that snaked their way through the lower levels to find the lab access. He typed in the code to get in and the doors slid open.

He threw the satchel on the counter and put the Plutonium near the area where Bulma was working on the time machine. "Bulma!" he yelled out, waiting for a reply. After waiting a minute for a response, he began to look around. Finally he found a not on one of the workstation counters. 'I'm going to visit him. Be back later.'

Gohan reflected for a couple seconds. It had been a couple days since he last visited as well. Usually he would go every day, but with the second trip to the past coming up, he was busy restocking the bunker for everyone so they could safely live without him.

He decided it was time to see his old friend one last time before leaving again.

The elevator ride back to ground level was just as eventful as every other time. He stepped outside staring at the sky. The sun was falling behind the horizon. He hadn't walked anywhere in awhile, flying was just more effective, but in this case it would be easier just to walk, it was only a few blocks away anyways.

He reached his destination just a couple minutes later as he stepped in the front doors of the hospital. The doors closed behind him, they weren't the sliding doors Gohan was used to, they were hinged, which seemed like something from the distant past to him. He walked along the silent halls, thinking of all the people that had died in the rooms he was passing, most of them had done so because of the androids. He was halfway down the side hall when he heard the sound of someone crying. He quickened his pace. Even if she didn't want him there, it's where he needed to be.

He rounded the corner and kept his speed. This was going to be hard on him; he knew it was. He got to the right door and pushed the solid metal slab on its hinge and walked through it.

Forty feet away Gohan saw Bulma kneeling in the grass in front of a sword stuck in the ground. He walked over, memories flooding his mind, every time he came here this happened and it never got any easier. Bulma was the one he had heard sobbed, not that there was any question about it. He knelt down beside Bulma and she immediately buried her head in his shoulder. Gohan thought it was a little awkward, but he didn't say anything.

"Good. Thing. I was. On. Y-your. Ri-ght. Side!" Bulma managed to let out in between sobs, trying to diffuse the situation with some humor, attempting to crack a smile, but failing. Gohan let his pride go to the wayside and wrapped his arm around Bulma, warm tears began to fall down his cheeks and land on the ground in front of him. They sat there for hours just looking at the lavender haired boy's sword and remembering their fallen friend. The slab in front of the sword read "_Trunks Briefs. Friend, Son, Student, Protector and Brother_".

* * *

_Hey everyone! Hope you all had a good week and enjoyed this installment of Ripple Effect! This really was my favorite chapter to write by far as of now. The dream sequence and the last two paragraphs had been in my head since chapter two. I was on the edge about whether Trunks would be alive and in a coma or dead and really struggled with it for the longest time. In the end though the only way to move Gohan along as a character was to have Trunks die at the hands of the androids. Sorry to any Trunks fans! I really do like Trunks and he is one of my favorite DBZ characters (Mirai not Chibi) but this was just the way it had to be._

_Also, I should probably mention what I take into account as cannon up to this point._

_History of Trunks obviously isn't cannon in this story, I suppose you could consider it to be canon until before Gohan grabs the senzu to save Trunks, but that is it._

_Dead Zone - canon, no real reason for it not to be._

_Tree of Might - non-canon, doesn't really fit into the storyline very well._

_World's Strongest - canon, same as Dead Zone._

_Any scene where Trunks has a flashback to the Z fighters losing against the androids - non-canon, the reason for this is that Trunks wasn't there. He just was going off of what Gohan had told him. That being said what is canon for RE in this area is going to be similar, as you could see from the flashback scene this chapter. _

_Alright that's all for now! Remember, drop a review by sometime and leave your opinions, criticisms, suggestions and favorite color._

_Once again a big thank you to the guy that puts the finish on the chapter to make it go down really smooth like a pina colada, my beta Full Poooooooooowwwwwwweeeeeeeeerrrrrrr!1_

_Cya next time!_


	9. Chapter 9: The Hunt for Blue May

Bulma had lay on the machine for at least three days; she wasn't positive how long it had been, however, because it was dark in the room and only the occasional flash of a red or green button broke the blackness. There was no sound in the room either. Having been strapped down to the table the entire time as well, she didn't know how big the room was. A day or so, something had latched onto her head and there had been a sharp pain in the back of her skull. It had only lasted half a minute or so and then went away almost immediately.

After that, every so often Bulma had weird dreams when she fell asleep. Not that she fell asleep very often, but being abducted by an insane genius whose only goal was to kill her best friend really took the energy out of her. Her last dream involved some monster wearing Goku's clothes destroying West City. It was terrifying, the monster was very similar to the giant monkey that Goku turned into during the last martial arts tournament and at Pilaf's castle. Well, except it had horns and shot laser beams out of it's eyes. Most of the dreams were around those lines.

Bulma hadn't felt this helpless since she was turned into a carrot by that giant rabbit all those years ago. She really hated this feeling. There was no doubt in her mind that her friends were out looking for her, but if they hadn't found her yet, what were the chances she would be rescued? Gero said that the device around her neck hid her ki signature from everyone. She hadn't seen where the doctor had taken her either so she didn't know if she was in a city or the middle of a forest.

She hoped that Gohan and the others were safe,; she saw the stream from Blue's perspective but even though they beat him they were all in pretty terrible shape. She still didn't know where Vegeta was because that arrogant bastard never sent any transmissions back to Earth to let them know how she was doing. Back in the day, she would have been glad that Yamcha was there to try to rescue her, but this time she had made a bet with herself on when he would get knocked out…she owed herself 40 zenie.

Bulma snapped out of her own thoughts as the first sound in a few days entered her ears. Some knocking came from the other side of some unseen wall. In an instant a door slid open and light shot through the room. She was blinded; her eyes were not used to anything but complete blackness. As her vision adjusted she saw the blurry figure of a man standing on the threshold of the room.

* * *

Vegeta woke up and checked the gauges that were on the side of the ship door. He was nearly to Earth, just another week by his best estimate. Sitting in the pod reminded him of back in the day when he would travel from planet to planet with Nappa. While the giant bald man may not have been the best conversationalist, it still gave him something to do instead of sitting in solemn silence. Nappa…he was an idiot, but he was a loyal idiot.

Vegeta hated silence, the only thing that got him through this journey so far, besides the fact that Cooler's pod was insanely comfortable, was thinking of the fight he would soon against Kakarot. He didn't care if he arrived halfway through the fight against those blasted androids, he would get revenge for that low class fighter upstaging him. His future son would receive Vegeta's fury as well; no one humiliates the great Vegeta and gets away with it.

He closed his eyes and thought of how his race was designed to fight. Their very structure made it so when they lost a battle their strength increased based on how close to death they were. Along with becoming a Super Saiyan, Vegeta had been beaten to an inch of his life, which made him even stronger. There was no way he was anything but the strongest in the universe now. After a few minutes of quiet reflection Vegeta opened his eyes again. He looked at the monitor that rested above his head. _9 days until arrival on Earth, damn. Patience is not one of my virtues._

* * *

Krillin touched down outside of Capsule Corp. It had been a long day, a long couple of weeks actually. The Z Fighters had been looking for Bulma non-stop, taking shifts and always having at least two people searching. So far they had been around the entire planet forty two times and found absolutely nothing. There was no sign of Bulma at all.

Dr. Briefs was trying to develop some sort of DNA sensor, to no avail so far. He swore he was close to a breakthrough but Krillin really doubted it. His wife, Babs, was inconsolable, burying herself in baking food for the Z Fighters. Gohan blamed himself partially for Bulma's abduction. He believed if he had been training more instead of studying he could have taken down Gero and the android, or at least held them off until Krillin and the cavalry arrived. Any time that he wasn't searching or sleeping he was training as hard as he possibly could.

Piccolo told them why Goku hadn't come to their rescue. He had been stricken with his heart virus as apparently all the intense training that he and the Namekian warrior had gone through added extra stress on his heart that overpowered the medication even. While they were all fighting for their lives against Blue, Goku had been fighting for his life on the floor of his house. He still wasn't even close to being able to stand, just the other day they had finally gotten him to sit up on his own.

Chi-Chi and the Ox King were terrified that any movement he made would send him rebounding back into a coma, something he did about a week ago when no one was around to watch him. He had tried to get up and walk to the kitchen and the strain made him pass out, falling down the stairs. Luckily, Gohan had found him a few minutes later and gotten him to the makeshift bed. Kami guessed that he would need another week or two to fully heal.

Yamcha took Bulma's disappearance the hardest, Krillin only saw him every so often when on his shift, he didn't think that Yamcha had slept at all in the past week, scouring every nook and cranny for the blue haired woman. Korin had told him that Yamcha had grabbed a bag of Senzus shortly after the fight and Krillin guessed that they were what was fueling the ex-bandit.

Krillin walked into the guest room that was being used by him and Tien and turned the light on.

"You're up, bro. I'm beat." Tien groggily sat up and rubbed his right eye.

"Find anything promising?" The three-eyed warrior asked. Krillin just shook his head, the same answer they always gave each other. Their only hope was that Gero slipped up sometime soon.

* * *

Gero released Bulma and pulled her out into the lab area.

"Finally you let me out of that stuffy dark room you creep!" she yelled at the elderly scientist.

"Do you remember last time you wouldn't shut up? I believe I have some exceptionally dirty rags laying around here somewhere if you want to keep it up." Gero spat back, giving Bulma a menacing look. Bulma immediately averted his gaze. "I thought so. Now, let me tell you how this is going to work. That device that is on your head monitors you and makes sure that you are helping at optimum capacity. It is plugged in to your nervous system and forces you to do your very best work. It will know what you are thinking and make your body respond, forcing you to complete my androids. You will help me program them and make them follow my every command. In the past they have not listened to me very well, something I hope to remedy through your assistance, Bulma."

Bulma shielded away as Gero wrapped his arm around her and lead her to a workstation with several monitors and a giant horizontal tube of some sort. As she neared it she saw that in the tube lay a raven-haired boy. She nearly shrieked when she saw that his midsection was completely opened up and some foreign mechanical devices were inside of him in place of human organs.

"Do you like him? His name is Seventeen, that's what I call him at least, I'm not aware of his birth name. Didn't ask before I sliced him open," Gero smiled evilly.

"How could you do something like this to another human being?" Bulma questioned the insane doctor.

"How? I can do this because he is inferior, so was his sister. Now I took them and made them better though, I'm perfecting what Kami couldn't. I will make the perfect life-form and go down in history as the greatest scientist ever to live! They should be glad to be footnotes in my great legacy, as should you, Bulma!" Dr. Gero began to laugh.

"How dare you be so callous with human life!" Bulma screamed as she slapped Gero across the face. The device on her head sent a shock through her body immediately, but when she had enough strength to focus on Gero again a second later what she saw horrified her.

Gero's hat had fallen off after the violent slap and in the place of a scalp he had a blue Plexiglas dome on his head. Inside of it Bulma could see straight into his skull and saw his pulsating brain.

"Ew! What are you? That is disgusting!" She hollered.

"I am an android, my dear. With this modification I will live forever! Ruling with an iron fist, Son Goku's body at my feet, and a world full of androids that obey my every command. Now get to work." As he said that, he threw Bulma at the monitors and walked away, cackling at her terror.

* * *

_One Week Later_

Yamcha was getting tired, after everything that had happened he was positive that he loved Bulma. He was completely miserable without her, there wasn't anything that he wouldn't give up to just find her and see that she was safe. It was only a month or so until the Gohan of the future had said that the androids would appear, but then again he hadn't predicted that Bulma would be kidnapped, so maybe the demi-Saiyan wasn't right about anything. After all, Blue ended up being an android and Gohan hadn't mentioned that either. He had very little trust in the man of the future now.

Yamcha landed in front of a cave in the desert. Puar stepped out and handed him a large sandwich. This would be the fourth time he slept in the past three weeks. Puar was worried that he would collapse soon.

"Take it easy Yamcha! You'll find her!" The little blue floating cat said, cheerful as always.

"No, Puar, it's my fault that she was taken," Yamcha said solemnly, sitting at the edge of his bed.

"How could it be your fault?"

"If I hadn't been stupid and broke up with her then I would have been there. If I was there from the start then it would have been two on two and Gero wouldn't have gotten away." Yamcha set the clock on the side of his bed for five hours later, just enough sleep to keep him going.

"You broke up with her? Isn't it usually the other way around?" Puar asked, confused. This was the first she'd heard of this.

"Yeah, I was being stupid. I thought she might have feelings for Vegeta so I broke up with her before she could even explain herself. It-it's just that she was always talking about him, complaining that he never checked back in or that she missed having to bandage him up every other day, she was probably just joking around about it but I reacted too rashly. I got so jealous that the thoughts consumed me. I guess I was scared that she would dump me for him and I would have to live down being second to Vegeta romantically for the rest of my life. I am just so damn stupid sometimes Puar!" He slammed his fist down on the table next to him, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

"Yamcha, it wasn't your fault, you just overreacted. Those androids were really strong, even if you had been there right away they may have gotten away, or they could have decided that Bulma and Dr. Briefs weren't worth it and killed them both." Puar said, trying to cheer her life long friend up. Yamcha face contorted to an expression of anger.

"Are you saying that I'm too weak to protect the ones I care about?!" He yelled at the flying feline. She cowered back as Yamcha stood up and marched to the door.

"Screw you, I'm going back to searching, I never should have stopped anyways."

"No, Yamcha, that's not what I meant! Don't leave!" It was too late though, Yamcha burst away from the cave towards the South.

* * *

Piccolo floated high above the Earth. As a Namekian he didn't need as much sleep as humans and needed very little nourishment as well. He had been listening to everything that he could on Earth with his fantastic hearing for the past few weeks. So far he had heard nothing of interest at all, of course, he had heard Yamcha's conversation with Puar; the conversation was very troubling. He considered going and knocking Yamcha out, forcing him to rest. He was sure that the lack of sleep is what made him lash out at his best friend. In the end he decided against it. This was the first time since he met the bandit that he was showing motivation for something other than chasing random women.

He honed his hearing in towards East District. He could hear Chi-Chi talking to Ox King about Goku's condition.

"He's doing really well right now. He's breathing fine and he was awake for a whole hour today," Chi-Chi said. While her voice was so annoying to the former demon king, it was good to hear that his old rival was doing fine though. The Ox King acknowledged his daughter and the two began discussing what to make for supper. Time to stop listening there.

Piccolo reached out with his mind, it was about time he checked up on the other Z warriors.

_Gohan!_ It took a few seconds but the young half-Saiyan answered.

_What is it Mr. Piccolo?_ He responded.

_How are you doing? Have you found anything yet?_

_No, so far nothing has turned up. Mr. Tien and I are looking right now._

_Alright, let me know if you come across anything interesting,_ Piccolo cut the mental link and returned to listening and meditating.

After a few hours he checked back in on the Son household. He could hear the murmurs of Chi-Chi and Ox King and Goku's soft breathing, but there was something else as well, something in a room adjacent to Chi-Chi. He listened in to the conversation going on there.

"Thanks for supper Chi-Chi, it was very good." Ox King said in his heavy voice.

"No problem, dad, now, I wonder where Gohan is. He's been gone for two days now. He better be doing his studying!" His daughter responded.

"I'm sure he is, dear. On a different note, how is the baby?" Piccolo almost dropped out of the sky. Before he could listen in any further though something else caught his keen ears.

There was something off about it though, instead of it coming from below, like most sounds he was hearing, it came from far above him. This was a bit concerning seeing as he was about twenty miles above the Earth's surface. It was then that he sensed it.

"Vegeta."

* * *

The escape pod entered into the atmosphere and began accelerating.

"Blast it! How the hell do I slow this ship down?" Even Vegeta could tell that he was going way too fast to safely land. He hit every button he could see; none were working. Finally he hit a button that opened up drag flaps, they tore off almost immediately. "Damn!"

In a few minutes Vegeta would be in the wreckage of a luxury escape ship if he didn't think of something. He looked around one last time for something that would slow the ship down. Same result as the last time, nothing. Only thirty seconds left, Vegeta could see the mountain range out of the front of the cockpit. This was his last shot.

Vegeta gathered all the energy he could in the center of his body. Twenty five seconds to go, he quickly repositioned himself so that he was facing the back end of the ship, his feet against the glass window. Eighteen seconds, he almost had enough power built up to pull this off. Out of his peripheral vision he could see the mountain side coming closer and closer every second. Ten seconds, he pushed off with his feet and released all of the energy he had built up in every direction. The ship was ripped apart as Vegeta shot out of the back of it. He panted and looked behind him just in time to see the hull crashing into the side of the mountain.

"Ship was tougher than it looked, partially survived my explosive wave." Vegeta looked around and got his bearings. He was somewhere in the Northwestern area. Now, it was time to find Kakarot. He floated up high in the sky, trying to get a better position to find that clown's ki from.

"You won't be able to fight him yet." Vegeta whipped around to see the Namek looking at him. He cursed inwardly for letting the bastard sneak up on him.

"And why do you say that, Namek?" Vegeta shot back angrily. Why on earth would Kakarot be unable to face him?

"Goku's heart has gotten worse. He has been out for almost three weeks now. Dumb idiot was almost better not to long ago before he overexerted himself and got twice as bad. There's something else, Vegeta," Piccolo continued when he saw Vegeta nod, "The androids attacked about the same time."

"What?! That's nearly six months too early!" Vegeta said in exasperation.

"I know, they didn't attack any town or cause mass destruction like Gohan said they would..."

"What did they do then?" Vegeta yelled, interrupting the tall green alien.

"They went to Capsule Corp and tried to abduct Dr. Briefs and Bulma. Gohan, Krillin and I tried to stop them but they managed to take Bulma." Piccolo finished.

"What? How long ago was this? How long has she been missing?" Vegeta angrily hollered. Piccolo was shocked at Vegeta's reaction to the missing scientist.

"For almost three weeks now."

"And you still haven't found her yet? Blast your damn incompetence!" Vegeta was irate; Piccolo had only seen the Saiyan get this angry before when he was getting beaten. Maybe his pride forced him to find Bulma because the latter had allowed him to stay at her residence for so long.

"There's something that is blocking her ki signature from us, Dr Briefs is working to make a machine that can detect DNA though."

"Then that'll be my first stop." With that Vegeta blasted into the air and flew off towards West City.

* * *

Bulma looked down at the two resting tubes in front of her. With her help Gero had finished them both and they were, theoretically, under his control. She was almost on the verge of tears because of her part in the destructive beings completion. She had also learned in the past week what had happened to Dr. Falcon. After he had been used to the fullest extent of his abilities, that being he was so tired from a lack of sleep and nourishment lack he could barely move, Gero killed him. He put his hand right through Falcon's chest. That was when he let Bulma out of that room and forced her to work with him.

Gero had told the truth: the device somehow had known everything that Bulma accidentally thought about to improve the androids. It had even been so far in her mind that she was very sure it had made her use her own intelligence against her will, but that was purely speculation at this point. She looked at Gero, his brain still showing, since she saw that he wasn't human he apparently decided that he didn't need to hide his true nature anymore. He had a genuine smile across his face as he gazed at his creations.

* * *

Vegeta looked at the device that Briefs had given him. He was partially convinced that the doctor had finished it up just because the Saiyan was waiting outside his lab. It wasn't all that great, it just had four directional arrows that lit up in the direction that the DNA's source was. The user also had to be in at least a forty-mile radius for it to pick anything up.

With something this useful, Vegeta could only think of one way that it could work, He rocketed off towards the West, going as fast as he could. While he flew he looked at the radar, no blinking on any of the directional buttons. Irritated, he angled off to the South just a bit. In a matter of minutes he had covered nearly half the planet.

After half an hour, Vegeta finally stopped to catch his breath. He had circled the planet about four hundred times. As he lowered himself to the ground he found himself in the middle of a small mountain range. He looked around and saw a few deer run by, heading towards a nearby stream. A bear lurked around in the brush, waiting for something to become it's food source. Some hyenas were eating something dead in a nearby clearing. He swiveled around and saw a lizard climbing up the side of a mountain in hot pursuit of a fly hovering close by.

Then something made him turn back to hyenas. He took a close look at what they were eating. It was a human body in a lab coat. Vegeta's head snapped from side to side, he wasn't sure what made him certain, but this was a sign. He was near the right place; he had to be. He looked down at the radar he was holding. Nothing was registering. Oh well, might as well check it out, that man is wearing a lab coat, Bulma wore lab coats every once in awhile. _Why the hell do I care so much about this damn woman?_

His looked around the area again from the sky trying to find something that would constitute any sign of a secret lair. After a few minutes of thorough searching he found nothing. He landed by the body once again. He scanned the area and didn't notice anything at all out of the ordinary. Giving up on this spot, he walked over to the lizard, intending to squash the fly before it could get it's meal, but as he looked up to get a sight on the fly he saw something - a metal door in the side of one of the mountains. It was carved in just a little bit, enough that you couldn't see it from the air.

"Bingo."

* * *

Gero looked at the monitor that showed the security camera feed. On the one checking outside the metal door stood Vegeta, charging up an energy blast. He slammed his fist down on a large button next to a different monitor.

"How? How could he have found my lab? This is impossible!" Gero angrily said, moving his hand across the keyboard. Once he found the button he was looking for, a sly smirk came over his face.

"Boot up Androids 17 and 18."

* * *

_Hey there everyone! _

_Sorry about that week off there, I had quite a bit going on in my personal life so I just couldn't get it done on time._

_This definitely wasn't one of my favorite chapters to write, oh well though, it progressed the story so that we can get to some FIGHTING!_

_Once again Full Power, The Wonderful Wizard of Editing made this chapter all prettiful and such, give him a few rounds of applause because he deserves it without a doubt._

_Now time for review answers!_

_Drak - Yeah that was one of the most fun/saddest parts to write. Future Gohan is definitely carrying more weight than Future Trunks was. He is a much darker and troubled character._

_FP - Maybe I should have you review my A/N as well, my stupidity is seeping through haha! It has been awhile since I had watched either of those so you pointed out the problems with them! Thanks!_

_ Dead Zone and The World's Strongest are non-canon in the Ripple Effect Universe!_

_Ky111 - Thanks! It was fun to write! I really enjoy writing Mirai Gohan, he's awesomesauce._

_Aleaster - There were a couple Bringer of Death references!_

_Ness - The flashbacks were interesting to write, had to keep them close to DBZ canon, but gave them a bit of a twist! That scene with Gohan and Bulma was in the works for a while, hope it gave the emotional effect I was trying for :) Also, thanks for pointing that out! I am trying to be more aware of it from now on!_

_Wolverines - Is that a good wow or a bad wow?_

_I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Please drop by a review and leave your thoughts, concerns, guesses or the meaning of life!_

_Cya next time!_

_treeger_


	10. Chapter 10: Controlled Terror

_Sorry for the late release! Got a few announcements, some good and some bad, they'll be at the end of the chapter._

* * *

Vegeta looked at the dense metal door, pulled his arm back and rocketed it forward a second later, smashing into the hard surface.

THUD!

The flame-haired prince listened to the sound it made after the impact and examined the dent in the door. _It'll take forever to punch through this damn thing_, Vegeta thought as he looked around the area around the metal again. _I'll just have to blast it away! _he smirked.

The proud Saiyan flew back a few feet and raised his gloved hands in front of his chest. A sphere of purple-blue energy started forming in between his hands, humming as it did so.. "Gero! I'm going to give you one minute to show yourself!" Vegeta began, yelling as loudly and commandingly as he could, "And after that, then I'm going to blow your door down and start those androids up myself!"

Gero looked at the monitor and glanced back at the screen dangling near 17 and 18's sleeping chambers. The bar that was illuminated showed that there were about halfway ready to be deployed. Hopefully, it would be in time. If not, it wasn't like he couldn't handle Vegeta without too much trouble. If push came to shove he would just have to use Bulma as leverage, which, according to his calculations, would work perfectly.

He looked over at the blue haired scientist, who looked completely miserable. Since he was very positive that 17 and his sister were perfected, he had Bulma working on bettering his older models and making

Vegeta wondered how long it had been since he had issued the warning. It was probably half a minute or so, it wasn't like he was actually going to count out a minute and he didn't carry a watch on him. His biggest virtue was not patience, not by a damn long shot. The energy that was built up between his palms was definitely enough to blow up the door. _I've given him enough time; I'm going in_, Vegeta said to himself.

Before he was ready to enter the lab he charged up his ki; if he was about to fight the androids he wanted the other Z fighters there. Not because he wanted back up or anything, he wanted them to witness him finishing those mechanical bastards off, proving how much stronger he was than everyone else. He pushed a little bit more ki into the orb and then released it. The blast flew at the door at an incredible speed, smashing into it with full force. In an instant the door was obliterated along with parts of the mountain and a bit of the lab.

Standing in the front of the lab was Dr. Gero, a look of pure surprise on his face.

"What? How?" Gero asked, backing up near his desk.

"I huffed and I puffed and I blew the door down," Vegeta smiled evilly at the doctor. The flame-haired fighter clenched his fist tightly and brought it up near his face. "Now is the time to run, little piggy."

The shocked look disappeared from Gero's face and was replaced by a look of confidence as he crossed his arms. "Bring it on, Vegeta. You're nowhere near a match for me."

_Two minutes before hand._

A flash of light and a loud crack interrupted a peaceful field suddenly. A large blue and orange machine appeared in the middle of the field. Birds flew from their perches and a few deer fled into a nearby forest. The glass dome flipped open and Gohan jumped out of it.

"I'm a couple of months early, maybe I'll be able to train with dad and Piccolo a bit before the androids show up!" He said to no one in particular. He took a second just to enjoy the breeze without fear of the androids sneaking up on him. His arm sleeve flapped in the wind.

Peace like this…he was unaccustomed to. Years and years of watching his back, nervous that the two mechanical terrors would sneak up on him, had made him anxious most of the time.

After a little bit he sensed something, a familiar ki shooting up and flaring. It was what he and the other Z fighters used as a signal around this period in his time line, in fact, it was what he and Trunks used before the latter's death. This ki…it had to be Vegeta's, Gohan was sure of it even though it was a few years since he last felt the Saiyan's ki. No other ki was around the man, which confused Gohan at first.

Why would Vegeta be charging up with no one around? He always did prefer to train alone but he usually was out in space a planet or two away, why was he doing it on Earth? If Gohan remembered correctly there was a city not ten miles away from the location he felt the ki signature coming from. Then it hit him: the androids had no ki signatures.

"Dammit! I'm going to have to hurry; he can't take them alone!" the half-breed proclaimed, clenching his lone fist. With that, Gohan took off into the air as fast as he could.

Gero shot off at the hovering Saiyan warrior. Vegeta sidestepped and let the old doctor go flying past him. Vegeta whipped his head around and saw the man's hand outstretched towards him, a red orb in the center of his palm. _That's weird, _he thought to himself.

Vegeta grabbed his opponent's arm, used the android's momentum to his advantage, and pulled his face into the Saiyan's fist. Gero went sprawling away. Vegeta, not one to let up, flew after his foe. Ki gathered in the palm of his hand as he appeared above Dr. Gero. He released it and Gero was instantly engulfed in Vegeta's blue ki. Vegeta rocketed in once again towards his foe, through the dust that had been unsettled from his attack, and backhanded the old man across the face.

Gero smashed into the side of a nearby plateau with a loud THUD! Ignoring the noise, Vegeta flew over and hovered a few yards away from the old mechanical man. He held his arm out to the side and formed a ki blast above his hand. "Now, old man, tell me where the woman is before I blow you to smithereens."

Gero let out a laugh at Vegeta's threat. "You have nothing on me." Vegeta scowled as he let go of the ki and it hurled at Gero. To his surprise, the cybernetic genius just raised his hand and the energy disappeared before the Saiyan's eyes.

Bulma slowly opened her eyes, feeling a tremendous amount of pain rush through her body. She was covered in rubble from the devastated laboratory; wires stuck out everywhere as well. Luckily, the device on the back of her head that had been forcing her to help Gero had been hit by some debris and now lay on the ground destroyed.

She rubbed the nape of her neck as she shoved some chucks plaster and sheet rock that had fallen on her off. The blue-haired heiress realized that another reason she was lucky was because there were no huge chunks of rock or metal that had landed on her, this was mostly due to being right next to the resting chamber for the other android she had been forced to work on.

The light green chamber had a large black #16 on it encircled by white. She crawled out most of the way and had everything below her hips free before she took a rest for a second.

A booted foot smashed into the ground in front of her. "Going somewhere, Bulma?" a voice said, chillingly smooth.

"What are you laughing about, you old bastard?" Vegeta questioned, irritated by his opponent's actions.

"Your energy attacks are useless against me! I can absorb them using my hands and add them to my own strength," Gero chuckled. Vegeta smirked back at him.

"Fine, then I'll just have to pummel you to death." Gero's good attitude immediately shifted to concern. Vegeta raised his fist and drove it towards the old man's head. Gero thought it might be all over until something grabbed the Saiyan's gloved hand.

"What the-?" Vegeta yelled as he looked over. Standing next to him and holding his clenched fist was a kid that looked like an older teenager. He was about the same height as Vegeta with jet-black hair as well. He was wearing blue jeans and a black leather jacket over a white T-shirt. On the right side of his jacket was a red ribbon symbol; it spanned the back of his jacket as well. He had black steel-toed boots on and an orange bandana wrapped around one of his arms. His eyes were an icy blue and seemed to stab into every thing he peered at. Something else that was troubling was that around the boy's irises were four red lines arranged like cross hairs. "Who the hell are you?"

"My name is 17. You're endangering my master, I'm going to kill you now," He replied coldly and in a monotone.

"So, you're the infamous 17, huh? I was told you're supposed to be pretty terrifying, I have to say I'm quite disappointed. Wasn't there supposed to be another one of you?" Vegeta replied with a smirk.

"I'm right here." Vegeta whipped around to see a blonde. Her hair was in a wild ponytail, unlike her brother's that lay down flat on his head. She was about the same height as 17 and wore a black tank top and a blue skirt. She had fingerless elbow gloves on that were white and knee high black boots. On the backside of her gloves there was a red ribbon symbol. She also had cold blue eyes with the red cross hairs in them. She had her hand extended out and in it she held Bulma by the back of her neck. "Any wrong move and I'll snap her neck like a twig."

"Help! Help me, Vegeta!" Bulma choked out. Vegeta was conflicted; either he pushed through and finished off Gero and Bulma dies, or he buys her a few more minutes as he takes a beating from the old man and the young freak. Who was he kidding, he may have some strange sort of feelings for that woman, but nothing was going to make him lose to some unworthy mechanical people. He was about to make his move when someone else made one. A bullet zipped by and hit 18 in the face; it didn't even leave a mark. She followed it's trajectory and so did the others, right to a scared hunter standing with his rifle aimed at the blonde. Gero nodded at her and with a flick of the wrist she sent an energy blast obliterated the hunter.

All of this took only a second to occur, but a second was all Vegeta needed. He broke out of 17's grasp by bringing his fist in close and kneeing the teen in the chest with full power. With lightning speed, he spun around the raven-haired android grabbed Gero's outstretched arm and flung him towards 18. He had no time to correct himself and he smashed into his creation whom promptly dropped the female scientist.

"Help!" She screamed as she plummeted to the ground. From the distance she was in the air when she hit it would be all over.

Vegeta doubled back and punched 17 hard across the face. He followed up by putting his other fist into the android's gut.

"Vegeta!" She screamed again, almost to the ground. _Annoying woman, can't she see that I'm busy_? Vegeta said to himself as he rocketed up and performed a roundhouse kick at Gero. The old man went careening into his laboratory at lightning speed.

"Get him!" the doctor yelled quickly. 18 turned around and intercepted Vegeta's oncoming attack by sidestepping and putting her knee into the proud Saiyan's stomach. She followed up by putting her elbow into his back. Before she could continue though there was a blur of motion on the ground. Both she and Vegeta looked down to see what had happened. Standing beneath them, holding onto Bulma, was a man in an orange gi. "I-It's Goku! Finish him off! Both of you!" Gero yelled, he had gotten up and was standing on a ledge just outside of his former lab, watching the battle unfold.

"Not quite. You see, I am the son of Goku; I am Gohan." The one armed warrior placed Bulma down on the ground and took a few steps forward before both androids got there and put up a defensive stance. 18 was the first to reach him. The half-Saiyan blocked the evil Android's fist with his hand, smirked, and swiped her feet out from underneath her and shot a Kiai that blew her back a couple hundred feet.

17 reached him next and threw a kick that Gohan easily used his arm to block, but it was a fake and Gohan realized it too late. 17's leg went down and his other leg shot out and connected with his bad half. Gohan buckled to his knees after the blow connected. _They're stronger than they were in my time line!_ The time traveler realized. Any other thoughts were forgotten as 17 sent his fist in an uppercut to Gohan's face. He sprawled backwards, his jaw burning.

"No one overlooks me!" There was a burst of ki and then an energy attack collided with 17's back. Gohan raised himself up a bit to see Vegeta hovering above them, golden hair waving in the wind.

"Y-you achieved Super Saiyan, just like you did before! Good job, Vegeta!" Gohan yelled out ecstatically. Vegeta let out a chuckle as he responded.

"Of course I did, I'm the greatest Saiyan to ever live!" Gohan smirked at that statement, he would never change. Gohan powered up to his Super Saiyan form as well and leaped up into the sky to join Vegeta.

"Two more power levels are coming, from what I can tell it's Yamcha and Tien, should we take care of these guys before they get here?" Gohan said, playfully issuing the challenge to Vegeta.

"Sounds like a plan, boy." With that, both warriors sped off towards each android.

"Kill them both!" Gero screamed. The androids looked at their creator and then back at their new targets. By looking away, they gave the Saiyans a perfect opening. By the time they had figured out where their opponents were they were each attacked.

Gohan used a spin kick and made contact with 18's hip. She was sent flying to the east, but Gohan wasn't about to let up; he shot off towards her, firing energy blasts and charging his foot with some ki. By the time he reached 18, she had been hit with fifteen small ki blasts and there was a significant amount built up in Gohan's foot. He brought his leg down at 18 and discharged the ki as fast as he could.

Sadly for the Saiyan, it wasn't fast enough as 18 caught him by his calf and flipped him around, sending the built up ki upwards instead of down at the blonde android. She spun him around by his leg, grinning as she released him and sent him flying back towards the lab.

Vegeta and 17's stare down was broken when Gohan flew between them. 17 took it as his chance and rushed in at Vegeta. The later was take almost off guard as 17 buried his fist into the Saiyan's gut. While Vegeta spat out a mix of saliva and blood, his Android opponent spun around and kicked Vegeta in the face with a round house. He tried to finish the former off with an energy blast but Vegeta dodged it and sent his own volley of blasts into the android's side. He placed both hands to his side and used his super speed to get behind 17. Purple energy began to flow around his hands once again.

"Galick Gun!" Vegeta yelled as he brought them both forward and released the energy at his opponent.

Gohan picked himself out of the rumble that used to be a small mountain. 18 was already hovering above him. She raised her hand and punched towards Gohan's head. He dodged it expertly with time to spare.

_They may be stronger than they were in my time line, but they are nowhere near as skilled. They seem to be much slower as well; as if something is holding them back from making the fast paced decisions you need to in a fight. I can't win out of strength, but if I fight using all the skills that I've been taught, I can defeat them; I know it!_ Gohan revved up his ki and shot himself towards his mechanical foe. 18 was stunned for a second, but then she started to react. Just as Gohan had predicted that second was all he needed, he drove his fist into her face and followed it up by bringing his knee into her gut. As she was sent sprawling backwards he grabbed her leg and threw her at the ground.

18 corrected herself before she crashed into the ground, saving herself with less than a foot to spare. Gohan fixed this a second later by flying down and drop kicking the android into the rocky ground.

Vegeta smirked as he saw 17 emerge from the debris of his attack. "Had enough, android?" he yelled down cockily.

"I have had far from enough, Vegeta." He charged in towards his living opponent. _He is very durable compared to how skilled he is. Whenever he actually lands a hit it's almost bone breaking, but those are few and far between, _Vegeta thought to himself as he stepped out of the way of the android's onslaught of ill-placed punches. Vegeta was about to deliver an axe handle attack to 17's exposed head when the teenaged android was suddenly engulfed in a blue beam. Surprised, Vegeta looked over to his right to see a fighter clad in orange with long black hair standing a hundred feet or so from him. Next to Yamcha stood Tien, the three eyed monk.

"Are we too late to have any fun?" Tien called out. Vegeta scowled as he looked at the two of them.

"This one is mine and the blonde is Gohan's, so you can take the old man standing by the lab over there. He can absorb energy though so if you're just here to watch get the hell out of the way," Vegeta spat out, rolling his neck. "While you two are weaklings compared to me, I think you'll be able to take that old fool. Don't prove me wrong…"

_Yamcha, Tien!_ Mirai Gohan's voice appeared in their heads, _take down Gero! He isn't as strong as these androids but I believe he may be controlling them! _

Tien and Yamcha looked at each other as Vegeta and 17 locked into combat with one another again and then peered over at the doctor. They shrugged and charged in towards Gero. They knew that Piccolo and Gohan were on their way, only a few minutes behind them and that Krillin was going to be there eventually as well. They reached Gero and decided that they needed a battle plan.

"I'll use my multi-form technique and you stand back and provide support," Tien called to his friend as he crouched slightly and crossed his arms in front of his face, closing his fists a little bit.

"Like hell I'll provide support! I'm getting right in there with you!" Yamcha yelled back, sick of being treated like a weakling. Tien sighed as Yamcha rushed in and kicked Gero across the face with as much strength as he could muster. The cybernetic doctor reacted minimally and grabbed his leg.

"Hmm, barely enough energy to be worth absorbing," Doctor Gero mused as he considered it for a moment. Deciding against taking any of Yamcha's energy, he threw the bandit back at Tien.

The three-eyed monk just dodged his flying friend and rushed in at the mechanical mad man. Keeping all three eyes on the doctor, Tien performed a back flip over Gero after a feign punch and kicked him to the ground. Gero quickly got up and shot towards Tien, both grappling in the middle, the monk's skin unfortunately contacting Gero's palm.

Yamcha was caught mid air by Piccolo, who was all alone.

"If you're just going to be a burden you might as well leave." The Namekian said flatly. Yamcha scowled at first and then let the comment pass over; there was no use in getting pissed off at allies.

"Where's Gohan at? I though he was coming with you," Yamcha responded.

"I sent him back to look after his father, I had Krillin go with him as well. If we aren't able to win against these guys then there needs to be a way we can get Goku somewhere safe while he recovers." Yamcha wasn't surprised by Piccolo's wisdom; he never was one to go into a battle without a few back-up plans.

"Alright, we need to take care of Gero. He is controlling the other androids somehow I guess!" _Plus I am going to get revenge for whatever he did to Bulma!_ Yamcha added inwardly.

Gohan blocked another sloppy punch from 18. It seemed that he was correct; ever since Yamcha and Tien had started to engage Gero the other two android's skill diminished even further. This led Gohan to believe he had been right, the less Gero could concentrate on the fight, the less the androids knew what to do. They weren't like this in his timeline, he was sure of it.

Otherwise they would have had a better shot against them all those years ago. In his timeline they didn't have the red lines in their eyes either. It wasn't like she wasn't a challenge; in fact she could take on Frieza no problem right now he guessed and if he didn't use the majority of his power he would be finished. She just wasn't the same cunning evil machine she was in his time.

From glimpses he caught of Vegeta's fight he surmised that it was going about the same for him, not losing any ground, but definitely not making any headway. IT seemed Gero had made the androids much more durable, but half as intelligent.

Vegeta side stepped another kick and sent his fist flying across 17's face. He flew upwards and yelled at Piccolo. "Hey, come over here and hold this bastard off, I'm going to end this in one move!"

Vegeta hated relying on someone else, but he was tired of getting nowhere in the fight and he wanted to fight against Kakarot already. Piccolo froze for a split second, then nodded and charged in, tackling 17 to the ground. Normally he wouldn't help Vegeta, but it seemed that this might be the only chance he got to fight against the ones that decimate the future according to Gohan.

Once Vegeta was satisfied that Piccolo wasn't about to get himself killed by the android he focused on the ki all around him, gathering it all around his body as he turned to face the lab and Gero, he wanted to obliterate any sign of the old man with this attack.

Tien and Gero were now hovering slightly outside of the lab, Tien's energy being drained slowly from his body by the nefarious doctor. There wasn't any way Tien could break the grapple now, he simply lacked the energy to do so. A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead as he struggled to break free.

Yamcha saw this and then looked up and saw Vegeta, he knew immediately what the Saiyan's plan was and knew he had to get Gero near the lab. Vegeta had not seen Gero and Tien exit so he didn't know that his attack would be almost useless. It was all up to Yamcha.

_Tien!_ he called out mentally. He saw his friend glance in his direction for a half second.

_What is it Yamcha? Could you give me some help?!_ The triclops responded.

_Yeah but you're going to need to break free of Gero's grip._

_DON'T YOU THINK I'VE BEEN TRYING THAT?!_ Tien mentally yelled at his friend.

_Relax, man, I have a plan._

Gohan ducked and punched 18 in the knee, a small grin coming to his face as she fell to the ground almost instantly. Gohan wouldn't let her have a moment's reprieve though, as he leaped into the air with his knee extended, catching on the female android's jaw, she flew into the air and Gohan gave chase. Once he was sure she had peaked, he preformed a front flip and brought his leg down on her face. As she fell to the ground Gohan pulled his arm to the his right side and began charging ki in his palm.

"KamehameHA!" he yelled, putting a moderate amount of his ki reserve into the beam. After a few seconds he let it subside and peered into the crater he had created with the blast. It was deep and narrow, going down about twenty feet or so. He was getting tired now, if it kept up like this the android would win, she would be heavily damaged, but she would win.

That's when Gohan noticed Piccolo fighting against 17. He panicked for a second, thinking that Vegeta had somehow been defeated. He was relieved an instant later when he saw Vegeta hovering in the air high above them all, charging up his ki in a sphere in front of him. Gohan looked down and noticed that 18 still wasn't coming out of the crater. There was no way that he had beaten her already, but it was possible that he had beaten her down enough that she needed a moment's rest. That was all he needed though, he zipped off to help Piccolo out.

Tien smirked at Gero. "What are you happy about? I'm going to drain you dry!" the genius laughed manically.

"Not if I can help it!" Tien pulled his legs up between his and Gero's arms and placed his feet square on the doctor's chest. With all his strength he began to push off the doctor, distancing himself from his foe a bit.

"That's not going to help you! I have a death grip on you, Tien Shinhan!" Gero hollered again.

"It may not, but it might help something else out, something like distancing myself from your body." Tien replied. Before Gero could question the bald man's statement there was a howl to his right. Coyotes have all left the area once the fighting started, what is that? Gero thought to himself as he looked over.

Rushing at him was a wolf clad in ki energy. Once he looked closed he saw that it was Yamcha, his ki in the form of a wolf encircling him. "Neo Wolf Fang Fist!" the human yelled out.

Gero had no time to react, Yamcha was upon him, hundreds of blows making contact each minute. Out of the corner of his eye Yamcha saw Vegeta letting go of the blast. "Big Bang Attack!"

There was no time to lose. After two more hits to Gero's exposed chest, Yamcha drew back and then delivered the last and most powerful hit to the mad doctor's head. The latter went flying off towards his lab, rolling like a soccer ball as it did so. One hand let go of Tien, but the other didn't and the bald warrior went off with him.

Using his skills as a martial artist and ki user, Tien created a ki blast in his free palm and brought it down on Gero's hand that still gripped his. The bionic parts exploded as Tien's highly concentrated blast made contact with them. Tien was freed and not a moment too soon. He quickly flew out of the way as the blast detonated on the lab. The entire area lit up a bright blue as it went off.

Yamcha had used the few seconds after his attack to try and get Bulma to somewhere safe, to his amazement though Vegeta had already grabbed her and was hovering a safe distance away. He inwardly cursed at himself.

Gohan and Piccolo stood in preparation as 17 froze. Ever since the lab blew up he hadn't moved an inch, just twitching slightly every few seconds. Then he suddenly dropped to the ground.

"Haha, it looks like we won!" Gohan said as he scratched the back of his head smiling. Piccolo noted the similarity between Goku and his son from the future. Vegeta floated down to the ground and let go of Bulma. Yamcha and Tien landed around them as well.

"Well, that wasn't nearly as bad as you made it seem like it would be..." Tien said at Gohan, laughing somewhat.

"Yeah, what gives?" Yamcha added.

"Hmmm, in my time line they weren't controlled by Gero. I think he was holding them back somehow," Gohan responded.

"Heh, you've got that right," They all turned to see 17 standing up and slowly walking towards them.

"Yeah, he had no instinct whatsoever." 18 said as she landed next to her brother. Both of the androids were now missing the red lines in their eyes. Everyone took a step back; the real fight was about to start.

* * *

_Hope you all liked the chapter! Made it to 10 woohoo! There'll be a special type thing coming in chapter 15, so get excited! _

_Alright announcements! First of all, because of my upcoming schedule Ripple Effect will now be decreased to an update every other week. I'm going to be busy with work, school and a social life so once a week is just no longer possible, sorry guys! These chapters should be longer and a bit more thought out though so that should be good!_

_Now some bad news. Full Power, the guy that makes these chapters all nice and clean, is stepping down as my beta. It is very sad but I am glad that he was there to help me for the time that he has, he certainly didn't need to concern himself with it and he never got anything in return for it. So please, for one last time, give a huge round of applause to the one and only Full Power! He will be continuing his stories Second Chance and now his new one, Sayian Uprising, so go check them out!_

_What does that mean for Ripple Effect? Well truth be told I don't know, please bear with me though, I promise my writing and style will improve as the story progresses!_

_Review Responses:_

_Luke - Hope this chapter answered your question...kind of._

_Balatros - Thanks man!_

_Ness - Thanks for the review! Yeah I was always a big fan of Yamcha when I was young and thought that his incarnation in the Z half was kinda disappointing. Big plans for Yamcha in the future, stay tuned ;)_

_FP - What can I say, I like giving introductions! This will be fun, bro!_

_Ky111 - hope this answered that as well!_

_Well that's it for this week! See ya all again in another two weeks! Remember, drop me a review and leave your thoughts, predictions or favorite mixed drink!_

_Later,_

_treeger_


	11. Chapter 11: The Beginning of the End

_Going to be pretty busy tomorrow so I decided to release the chapter today, early for once, haha! I have some good news at the end of the chapter as well, so stick around! _

_Without further ado, Chapter 11._

* * *

The atmosphere was ghastly reticent, the tension so thick it could be cut with a knife.

Save for Vegeta, the Z-Fighters stared at the androids in complete shock and horror—no one could believe that the androids were still fully functional. They had figured that, without their creator to control them, the teenage cyborgs would simply become statues of their former robotic selves. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case, as proved by the androids' deadly smirks of confidence.

Suddenly, Vegeta broke the silence after a few moments, pushing Bulma away from him and taking a step forward as he sized up the twin terrors before him. Those red lines that had been on their irises seemingly had vanished; what this meant, the prince didn't know, but it was apparent that there was a difference within the cyborgs.

His glance then shot towards the Z-Fighters, who were all huddled together as if they were small children. His eyes roamed over each one of them, before, finally, he spoke.

"You, useless one," the flame-haired Saiyan said, "take Bulma to Kakarot's home. This battle will not be for either of you."

"What do you mean, useless one?! I'm more than capable of-"

Vegeta growled, immediately cutting him off. He then began to speak, his words a harsh blow to the human."Shut up! Right now you are the weakest of the five of us. If you had spent the last two and a half years actually training yourself instead of hitting on every damn woman you see, maybe you'd actually be able to do something other than the grunt work! Since it's obvious you won't be able to make a difference in this fight, make yourself useful and take the only woman who ever even slightly cared about you to Kakarot's house where she'll be at least somewhat safe!"

Everyone turned to look at the prince; however, no one's facial expression could evoke more horror than the scar-faced bandit himself—Yamcha had a look between shock and anger on his face. Yamcha admitted defeat, finally, and took Bulma in his arms. It wasn't the usual way the two flew together, Bulma resting in both of his arms, her arms wrapped around his neck. This time Yamcha held her in one arm, minimal body contact.

Vegeta saw the looks he was getting and spoke up, "You all know of that punk's inability to fight. If anything, he would've hindered you in this battle."

As the duo took off into the air and though the androids looked at them, they made no move to go after the two weakest of the bunch. The mechanical fighter's turned their attention to the Z warriors.

"Look, it's four on two, 18. I'll be a nice brother and let you take the first pick." 17 smiled evilly as he spoke to his sister. The blonde frowned, looking closely at the assembled group of warriors.

Finally, her gaze settled on one.

"I'll take Vegeta. You got to take him on under Gero's control, so it's only fair I get a crack at him," 18 replied.

Vegeta let out a scowl, "They're picking which of us to fight! There's no way any one is fighting with me, I go alone!" With that he dashed forward and kicked 18 in the face. She spiraled backwards a few feet before she caught herself and looked back at him, smirking.

"Fine, I get the other three then!" 17 exclaimed with a smirk. He let out another grin as he shot towards the remaining Z fighters, disappearing halfway through his flight.

The Z-Fighters were too stunned to make even the slightest movement.

He appeared again in the middle of the three, 17 punched Tien in the gut, making him double over and grabbed him in a headlock. Using Tien as grounding he leaped up and kicked Gohan in the back using both legs, and as he landed on the ground he used his momentum to throw the three eyed monk into Piccolo. All three fighters slowly got to their feet, 17 smiled at them again and assumed a battle stance. "So, are the three of you actually going to put up a challenge or what?"

"Tien, Piccolo, stand down," Gohan said, "I want to see how much I've improved."

"Gohan, that's idiotic! You saw how strong they were under Gero's control and now they're even stronger!" Tien yelled. Gohan looked back and showed half a smile.

"I was holding back before." He gave a thumbs up before revving his ki up to the max. Tien and Piccolo's jaws dropped; his power was unbelievable. The aura around Gohan was a violent yellow and his muscles expanded slightly. Even Vegeta stopped mid swing and looked over at Gohan, awed by the intensity of his power. Finally, the demi-Saiyan's ki peaked at an amazingly high level; not even the androids could hide their shock at his unadulterated power. Without another word, Gohan raced over and punched 17 in the chest with his good arm. The boy android immediately rocketed off and took down two cliffs while he was flying back. 17 got up and brushed the debris off his shoulders.

"Well, that was surprising," muttered 17 as he prepared to re-engage his foe.

Gohan looked back at the others and gave a smile. "Go help Vegeta, I'll be fine here." He snapped back to the fight a second before 17 made a jab for his face, blocking it just in time with his good arm.

Piccolo looked over at Tien and nodded. The two of them flew up and watched over Vegeta's fight. "Don't interfere unless it's absolutely needed, if you get in the way Vegeta is just as likely to become an enemy."

"Heh, right." Tien agreed.

* * *

Vegeta ducked under a punch from 18 and used his right arm to swipe her legs. As she was swept off her feet Vegeta kicked at her face, but 18's hand moved up and grabbed it just in time before it connected. She turned around several times before letting go of the Saiyan's leg, sending him flying up into the air. She tailed after him without wasting a second. Her fist connected solidly with Vegeta's face, sending him even faster into the stratosphere. She managed to land three more hits on Vegeta, each just as crippling as the last before he shot a kiai out of his entire body, preventing her from reaching him and allowing him enough time to correct himself.

He rushed down at 18 and backhanded her across the face, the effect of the hit was less than Vegeta had hoped for, but he still took it. He floated back a couple of feet and held his arms out in front of his chest. As 18 turned towards him he launched a volley of ki blasts as fast as he could. Every ki blast found it's mark somewhere on 18's body, whether it was her vital areas or not so vital areas. When the smoke cleared 18 rushed out, just in time to find Vegeta waiting, charging a large blue sphere in his outstretched hands.

* * *

Gohan sailed back as 17's fist collided with his chest. As the android followed up the one-armed Saiyan ducked down and delivered a punch to 17's ribcage.

"Heh, you're not in my files at all, and you're certainly stronger than any of these other fighters… who are you?" 17 asked as he clutched his gut.

"Yeah, it'd make sense that you don't know who I am, but I am in your files." Gohan responded while he kicked at the android's head, 17 blocked it with his elbow. Had he not been an android, the bones in his arm would have shattered.

"You are?" the boy was clearly shocked.

"My name is Son Gohan. In another time you killed my best friend, and I'll never forgive you. I came back to prevent the hell I live in from existing for eternity! Prepare to die, android!."

"It won't be that easy!" 17 hissed, throwing his leg forward. However, the demi-Saiyan easily evaded it by tilting his head; with that, Gohan charged up a beam in his hand and fired it right into the android's chest.

* * *

"Big Bang Attack!" Vegeta yelled, releasing the built up ki in a sphere of energy. It flew towards 18 and blew up the second she put her hands up to block the attack. The blast expanded and obliterated the surroundings. Vegeta scanned the area, looking for the blonde android. The androids not having a ki signature was extremely inconvenient; he had no way of knowing where she was or if he had destroyed all of the cyborg. His attack had effectively gotten rid on any hiding spots in the general area, so it wasn't like he wouldn't see her if she was still around. "Ha, looks like there's nothing left—I really must control myself more."

"Would you quit gloating and get back to fighting me?" Vegeta whipped around and saw 18 hovering behind him. She had a couple of tears in her clothes, but that was about it. Vegeta's jaw dropped and shortly afterwards he dropped to the ground, the result of 18 ax handle smashing him on the top of his head. She dove down towards the proud Saiyan fists first and landed on his chest. She straddled him and raised her right fist, bringing it down across Vegeta's face. She repeated the same motion with her left fist and kept up the pummeling for a few minutes.

"You know, I expected more from you, Vegeta, the mighty prince of Saiyans." 18 mocked. "My files didn't say that you could go blonde, but that didn't really improve your chances of beating me, I guess. Poor little Vegeta, I'll finish this now and save you some face." She drew her right arm back and charged a yellow ki blast in her palm, with her left hand she held Vegeta's throat. "Time to die."

As she brought her hand towards the Super Saiyan she suddenly disappeared. Vegeta let out a gasp of shock before his hair returned to its black shade and he lost consciousness.

Piccolo held the blonde android between his arms, desperate to save one of his most powerful comrades from death. Though the Namekian certainly didn't like him, he knew that Vegeta was one of the Earth's greatest hopes for survival.

In a matter of seconds 18 had broken Piccolo's hold on her. She punched the Namekian in the face, sending him hurtling towards the ground at a breakneck speed. Before she could go after him she was smacked in the back by a ki blast. When she whipped around she was punched in her gut. She joined Piccolo's trajectory towards the earth below.

"I usually don't like to hit girls, but I have decided to make an exception, just for you." All four Tiens said at once. Piccolo saw this as well._Let's hope he has made the technique better than it __was before._

18 broke her fall just feet before crashing into the ground. She spat to the side before grinning and flying up in the air. She lunged at Tien, her right leg extended and aimed directly for his chest. He threw his arm up just in time to block it. There was a sickening crack afterwords that could be heard around the battle field. The clone of Tien dropped to the ground, gripping his shattered arm and howling in pain.

Before the blonde killer could make it to the next replica of the three eyed human a fist smashed into her jaw, sending her into the air.

"Tien follow my lead!" Piccolo barked as he flew up towards his opponent. The three remaining Tien's shot a look at one another before darting up after their comrade. As Piccolo smacked her up into the air once again, one of the Tien's burst up parallel with her and placed his hands in front of his face, forming a triangle with his thumbs and pointer fingers. He charged a bit of ki in the space between his hands, he released it and it smashed itself into the female android just as Piccolo reached her and delivered another punch to her mechanical frame.

Piccolo smirked. "Good job! Let's keep it up Tien!" He hollered, if they kept going at this pace they may keep her off her feet long enough to come up with a better plan.

* * *

Android 17 and Gohan stood facing one another, eyes locked, searching for the perfect time to strike.. Gohan's chest heaved up and down as he breathed in. He was better than the android, he was sure of it. Though this 17 was stronger than the one in his time line, this one had a disadvantage; he was alone. While 17 may have been more powerful than Gohan, the latter was more skilled in martial arts. The android smirked at the half Saiyan fighter.

"Ready for round two, Future Boy?" His cocky attitude pissed Gohan off to no extent. He would pay, he would pay for the sins of his counterparts. He would pay for the death of Trunks.

With that last thought Gohan exploded in a burst of energy. He rocketed in at 17 and without a moment's hesitation he drop kicked the android, sending him face first into the hard mountain rock. Without letting up for a second Gohan drove his fist into the raven-haired machine's back. 17 didn't have any time to recover from the onslaught.

Gohan jumped in the air and landed on the monster's back. The android cried out in pain as his foe's feet drove into his back. The warrior from the future jumped again, landing on the same spot. He jumped up once again. 17 braced himself for the inevitable landing that followed the weight lifting off his back. It didn't come though. 17 turned himself around and looked up to see Gohan levitating above him. His hand was raised above his head and above that rested a disc of ki.

"Shit." Without another beat Gohan hurled the Kienzan at his opponent. It arced down towards the mechanized teenage boy at an alarming speed. The whizzing buzz saw motion of the ki got close enough to cut a few strands of hair from 17's face before he stopped it by filling his palms with ki and sandwiching the attack. Gohan's ki was dissolved, but not without a large amount of effort on Gohan's part.

17 glared daggers at the other warrior before him. "You may have the upper hand at the moment, but remember that I have unlimited energy! I can go for eternity, whereas at some point you will tire out, and I'm going to guess that the point where you tire out is coming soon." He smirked.

* * *

18 floated in place, surrounded by three Tiens and Piccolo. She had been repeatedly battered by the quartet of fighters for the past few minutes. The only reason she had gotten free is because she figured out the rhythm of the fighter's attacks and narrowly dodged one of Piccolo's fists. She cracked her knuckles and gave her opponents a large grin.

"So, are you both ready for the real fight to begin?" Piccolo was taken aback for a second before he smiled. It wasn't a smile of happiness or eagerness to fight. It was a smile of hopelessness, of realizing that he was outclassed by this android and this was possibly where he would die.

"Tien, go. Warn the others." Tien gave Piccolo a look of confusion and hurt; Piccolo saw this and explained, "If we are defeated here then no one will be able to warn the Son family or Yamcha. You must go now, Tien! You're the last defense, you have to go Goku's, I'm counting on you!"

Tien nodded and stretched his arms out. Both of the remaining clones shot into him and the third one came a second later. "Alright. Don't die on me, Piccolo." With that he blasted back towards the East District. 18 made no motion to go after him, instead keeping her gaze on the Namekian warrior hovering in front of her.

"You aren't going to live through this, Piccolo," she said bluntly and then burst forward, kneeing the fighter in the gut. She brought her elbow down on his bald green head and with her other fist she delivered a punch to his ribs. She gave him a split second to recover before she continued the harsh beat down. She punched him across the face, sending him flying off to the East. Using her super speed she rushed over and caught him by the back of his neck. She pulled her arm back and enveloped it with ki, she moved her arm down in a slicing motion. Piccolo let out a scream as his right arm plummeted to the Earth far below. "Quit your screaming, I know that Namekians can grow back their limbs; it was one of the generous 'donations' your friend Bulma gave us."

* * *

The android had been right, he hated to admit. Gohan was running out of energy, at a pretty fast pace. Soon he would be out if he didn't finish the fight now. He charged his fist with a ball of ki and looked around for 17. After they had exchanged a volley of energy blasts. In the dust he had slipped out of Gohan's sight, something not easily done. "Come out, 17! Let's end this now!"

Gohan continued to scan everything in his field of vision and charging the ki in his hand. He focused all around him, trying to find his opponent. Finally he felt something, it was small but it was approaching him at a quick speed. He whipped around just in time to drive his fist into the leather jacket clad android's gut. He unleashed a kiai that sent 17 spiraling away and followed after him quickly. As he rushed in he drew his fist back and brought it at his foe a second later. Instead of making contact with something solid he felt nothing but thin air. Before he had time to question it 17 reappeared on his right side and punched him solidly in the face. Gohan flew into a nearby plateau edge and was implanted into the cliffs edge. He revved up his ki and broke part of the rock that was holding him in away. As he began to get up and exit the rocky grip 17 appeared in front of him and punched him in even further. He repeated the action until they were about halfway through the cliff. The rock began to give out and the top part of the cavern that they had created started to cave in. 17 flew out of the cavern before he was trapped in it as well.

He took a second to admire his handy work. The plateau was half caved in, nearly fifty tons of rock was on his Saiyan challenger. He chuckled to himself. "Whoops ma, I think I broke the mountain."

He looked over at his sister. She was currently smacking Piccolo around like he was a rag doll. It was an outcome that was pretty much expected. He didn't see Tien anywhere, she must have completely eradicated his body. He glanced over at Gero's lab. The place was essentially destroyed, half was disintegrated in Vegeta's attack and the other half was piled under boulders and broken machinery. Something caused a buzzing feeling in the back of his head, he couldn't tell what it was, but when he turned around it stopped. He turned around just in time too, rising from the rubble of the collapsed rock was Gohan, leaning over his right side and a brilliant blue light shining from his palm.

* * *

18 looked down at the bleeding form of Piccolo. He had taken a huge beating from the girl for the rest of their battle. In fact it had been completely one sided with Piccolo getting virtually no hits in since Tien's leave of the battlefield. He now knelt in front of her, his arms both missing, leaving two bleeding stumps in their place. His bruises also had some blood pouring out of them. Blood dripped from his mouth and onto the terrain beneath him, staining the light brown rock with deep purple droplets.

As she drew her fist back in order to deliver the finishing blow to Piccolo's head something caught her eye. She turned around to see Gohan floating high above the Earth with a nearly full powered Kamehameha in his hand.

"Dammit," She turned back to Piccolo, "It's your lucky day."

* * *

His attack was almost to the point where he could release it and know for sure that the android would be gone forever. 17 was rushing in towards him, but he knew that there was no way the android would get there in time to stop him. It seemed that for someone with an infinite supply of energy, he could in fact get tired after a while. It wasn't that it was extremely visible, but after fighting both this incarnation and the one in his time line he could tell, he had worn him out a bit.

"This is it! Say your prayers, 17, you're going straight to Hell!" He moved his arm out to release the blast but instead of flying towards his enemy he found himself falling towards the ground, the right side of his face burning with pain. As he turned his head to look up he saw the blonde android looking down oat him. "No!"

Both androids shared a look and then dove down towards their prey. 18 got to him first, punching him in the gut. He moved to block her next attack, but 17 swooped in and hit him in his weak spot, the right shoulder. As he tried to defend the blind area the androids continually beat him down, not allowing him to get a moments reprieve. He tried to focus enough to use a kiai to push his assailants away, but he was too injured from his earlier fight and too preoccupied with his current one to do so. They were brutally thorough, annihilating any hope Gohan had earlier of getting the upper hand. When it was just one of them he could pull it off, but now that he had to face them both, it was just like in his time line, he was outnumbered. He could feel each time they made contact, it was like time slowed down, just to remind him that this was one more time that he failed. One more time to add to an ever-increasing list. In one last-ditch effort he revved up his ki and tried firing a blast at one of them. Before he could aim it the androids sandwiched his arm between their fists, breaking it. He screamed in pain before reverting back from Super Saiyan.

"Look sis, he isn't a blonde any more." 17 mocked as he kept his part of the assault up.

"Good, he doesn't deserve to share any characteristics with me." 18 replied, delivering a particularly heavy punch to Gohan's chest.

"But now he looks a bit more like me. That isn't fair." They kept up their brutal attack for the next few minutes, Gohan fading in and out of consciousness. This wasn't the first time he had been beaten to within an inch of his life, but it very well may be the last. He had no guarantee they had the same drive to play games with his life that his androids did. With a chop to the back of his neck Gohan's world went blank.

The half-Saiyan's body fell to the ground.

"Did we kill him sis?" 17 asked, half sincere and half mocking.

"I'm not sure. Who cares though, the real fun will be killing Goku." she replied to her cyborg brother.

"We don't know where he is though. He wasn't here to help fight us, maybe he's dead."

"No, I heard Piccolo talking to Tien about going to Goku's house, he's alive. And I know where to look."

* * *

_Hey everyone! Hope everyone had a good past couple of weeks and enjoyed this chapter, I certainly had a blast writing it! This one was exciting to write, especially since it sets up so quite a bit for further on in the story._

_I have some pretty awesome news to announce so everyone hold on to your seats! Super Vegetarott, the author of the amazing story Sins of the Father, has somehow found the time to make my story sound, look and flow better even with doing his own huge work load. Please welcome him to the team and maybe when you're done reading and reviewing *__cough*cough* go check out Sins of the Father. It is definitely a read that you won't regret!_

_Reviewer response time, let's get it started!_

_Ky111 – Thanks! Yeah, Gero couldn't control all of their movements and still fight against Tien and Yamcha as well, so they weren't able to fight at full strength or at their top skill level. Glad that you're liking the story and the twists so far, stay tuned for more!_

_AfanAddict – Yes, sadly Trunks has died. I was really conflicted with this for awhile about whether he would be dead or just in a coma sort of deal. I even wrote out two different scenes for whatever I decided on. At the end of the day though that's how it had to be. For Gohan to be who he needs to be in this story, Trunks couldn't be alive. Sorry for making you sad!_

_Ness – Sorry about that! I was going to state outright which android she was working on but decided to allude to it instead (points if you can figure out which it was!). Must not have deleted the whole sentence! I thought Tien had been a monk at some point in order to get his third eye? I'm probably wrong ha. I am all for Team Human as well, there will be a lot more progress for both of these characters along with Krillin, who we haven't seen for the past few chapters (my bad guys, sorry!). Piccolo is very intelligent, and he will remain that way throughout the story!_

_JadedMom – Thanks! Mirai Gohan is the best and I hadn't seen a fic with him in it before so I had to give it a shot! Vegeta and Bulma's relationship will definitely be built up more than in canon, but this won't be just a B/V fic, sorry! I hope you continue to read and enjoy this story and I look forward to __future reviews! :)_

_Luke – Still a toss up this chapter! We'll find out their intentions next chapter!_

_Drak – Answered via PM, hope you enjoyed this chapter man!_

_Lucif – Thanks for the Review and you weren't harsh at all! :) Gohan's presence will definitely make a difference, especially in present Gohan's training and lifestyle. They are going to figure out how different the same person can be ha!_

_That's about it for this chapter guys! Hope you enjoyed it! Til next chapter!_

_treeger_


	12. Chapter 12: The Android's Goal

_Sorry for the really late release guys! I think from now on RE is going to just be updated whenever I get the chapters done, sorry if it takes forever in advance!_

_You didn't come here to hear me talk though, so here's the chapter!_

* * *

Gohan looked at the bald fighter quickly approaching on the horizon, he looked worn out and beaten. He turned to go back inside and almost ran into the hulking figure of his Grandfather.

"Hey Gohan, what's the matter?" The Ox King questioned, his voice was deep and full of concern. He may not look that scary any more, now wearing brown pants with a white T-shirt and black suspenders. He traded his protective ox modeled helmet for a more decorative one with smaller horns. Finally, he now wore glasses that rested on his nose, providing much better vision, along with a more inviting and grandparent-like look to him.

"Tien doesn't look very good Grandpa, we may have to move depending on how the battle is going." Gohan replied, looking concerned. He hadn't had the time to check the battle with his senses in the last ten or so minutes, he had been helping his mother take care of his father. Just a few minutes ago Yamcha had landed and given them an update. From what he had said, Gero was no longer a threat, though his creations were still on the loose.

Yamcha stepped outside as well now, Gohan could see how worried he was about his friend and former rival. "If Tien is coming back alone I sincerely doubt that the fight is going very well. We should move Goku as soon as we can." Yamcha told the young boy.

* * *

"Where could we move him to that would be safe though?"

Bulma sat in her lab chair for the first time in months. She really wanted to go to sleep, or see her father and mother, but she had work to do. She knew about Gero's technology now. She had built it for Kami's sake. If she could replicate it in her lab then there were ways that it could be used to benefit the world. Not that she was too confident about the fate of the world right now, she had help build the androids, she knew how strong they were. They even had some of her memories, luckily enough she had learned how to block some of her mind from the probe Gero had sent to steal her thoughts. To her displeasure though it had taken her until midway through the fight against Frieza to learn how to do it. So trying to improve on Capsule Corps' technology would need to wait.

Now she pulled out a large blue sheet of paper and a pen. It was going to take a little bit of time, but this could help turn the tides in the Z fighter's favor in the long run, she was convinced of it. She began to draw vigorously, she only stopped a moment when her elbow hit against her father's ashtray and it fell off the work table. It clattered to the floor and spread cigarette butts sprawling across the floor. The tray bounced a few times before it came to a rest at a pair of feet covered in black shoes. As Bulma looked up she saw a familiar figure wearing a lab coat. Within a second there was a pair of arms wrapped around her.

"You're home!" Dr Briefs could barely contain his happiness as he hugged his daughter. Bulma hugged her father right back and just as hard. It seemed like forever since they had seen each other. The embrace lasted for a nearly a minute before Dr. Briefs let go and looked at his daughter. "I'm so glad that you're alright, dear. You should be resting after all you've been through, what are you working on?"

* * *

Bulma looked down at her blueprints and picked it up, passing it to her dad. Upon looking at them Dr. Briefs was astounded, his daughter was already surpassing him. He chuckled as he thought to himself, _this must be what Roshi feels like with his trainees getting stronger than him._ The print before him was ingenious, his DNA radar couldn't even come close. He reached into his pocket and flipped open the small box located there. His fingers did the movement that they had been doing for almost forty years now as he singled out one of the long tubes and brought it up to his mouth. At the same time he brought a lighter up with his other hand and lit the cigarette. "So, what can I do to help?"

The androids landed in the clearing where the Son house hold was located. They shared a look as they began walking towards the entrance. Just a few dozen feet from them rested the man they longed to kill. Each step increased their anticipation until they were only fifteen feet away. They stopped and 17 cleared his throat, "Goku, we know that you're in there. Come out now or we are going to blow up this entire area."

They stood waiting for a few seconds before the front door began to open. From the opening in the building the young Son Gohan stepped out, an angry look on his face. "Leave this place, my father is not well."

"That doesn't matter to us, boy," Android 18 spat, "We are just here to kill the world's strongest fighter."

"Now step aside or I'll kill you just like I killed," 17 hesitated for a second, clearly he hadn't thought this through, or he had thought it over too thoroughly, "Well, like I killed the other you."

Gohan was visibly shocked by the statement. His future self was stronger than Vegeta even, how could he be dead? He had to stand firm though, he had to defend his home and his family, but he was not alone. From the front door of the house Yamcha and Tien exited and stood in front of the half-Saiyan, both ready for a fight.

"This is going to be interesting, huh Tien?" Yamcha asked his friend nervously. They both knew that if Future Gohan and Vegeta were defeated in their Super Saiyan states, they hardly stood a chance. They could still buy some time though, they could still save Goku.

"Yeah, nothing we can't handle though man." Tien replied, the androids began to walk towards the Z fighters, blank icy looks in their eyes. Tien turned his head towards his old rival and nodded. Both seasoned fighter jumped up and on the roof of the house and before the androids could question it at all anything they could have asked about the situation was answered.

"Masenko-ha!" Gohan yelled the name of his favorite attack as he released the ki he had built up in his hands. The blast ripped it's way towards the androids, tearing the grass and dirt in it's path out of the ground. It reached it's target and detonated.

Yamcha and Tien didn't lose a second, they each flew in at their enemies. In a matter of seconds the once peaceful forest clearing erupted into a battlefield. Yamcha threw a fist at the face of the boy android with all of his might. Before the fist could make contact 17 ducked under it and rotated his body so he faced away from the scar-faced fighter. He brought his elbow back, drilling it into the human's gut. With his other hand he grabbed his foe's outstretched hand. Using Yamcha's previous momentum against him, he threw the man to the ground, right into the Son family mailbox.

Tien was not fairing much better than his ally. He had managed to land one or two lucky hits in before she began to hit back. The tide of the fight changed quickly thereafter. Currently, Tien was held by his neck as 18 jammed her fist into his gut. All three of his eyes bulged after each punch, the power behind them was enough to kill a lesser man. After the tenth time that she gut smacked him she threw him into the air. Disappearing and reappearing behind him she bicycle kicked him into Yamcha just as he was about to get up.

Gohan saw his friends being pummeled by the mechanical fighters and knew he had to do something about it. Though he used most of his energy creating the ki blast that seemingly did nothing against the androids, Gohan hated being tossed to the wayside like this. He charged up some more ki in his fists and discharged it at his enemies. They were taken aback for a second, but only a second. They deflected they blasts back at the small Saiyan.

Gohan thought quickly and threw two huge chunks of dirt at the ki. As they made contact the dirt exploded, causing a haze in the air. Gohan knew about where the androids were, so he rocketed off and focused on getting in as many hits as he could. The young fighter was taken by surprise as an elbow was driven into his back and a foot connected with his face. He went spiraling into the air as the androids gave chase. One would speed up and knock Gohan down while the other would catch him and threw him back towards the other. Finally, 17 caught Gohan by the back of his gi and held him up high in the air.

"That could have worked, little guy, if it weren't for the heat sensors Bulma installed in us. Just one of her many 'gifts'," 18 yelled at the demi-saiyan, "You must let us know where she is so we can 'thank' her properly."

"Haha yes, you should." 17 added in, lifting Gohan up a little bit.

"I'll never sell out my friends!" Gohan screamed.

"Fine, hey 18, let's test out your aim. Try to hit the kid and not me." 17 chuckled as he proposed the idea. 18 started laughing as well as she charged a blast in her hand and aimed it at the boy. She feigned trying to figure out the right angle to shoot from. After a couple of seconds she fired the blast.

Gohan looked up just in time to see the ki sphere coming at him. He closed his eyes and winced, preparing himself for whatever was about to happen, more than likely death in this case. Instead he found himself falling to the Earth below. When he opened his eyes and looked around he saw a kienzan disappearing in the air and the short monk clad in orange that always seemed to accompany that technique.

* * *

"Jeez, that comes in handy when I'm saving you guys all the time now!" Krillin joked.

* * *

Gohan pulled himself up to his feet slowly. After stumbling a few times he finally got stable and looked around. The area was completely decimated by the fight that had happened here just a bit ago. He searched out with his senses to try and find his allies from this time. His fear was that they were dead, killed by the androids, just like they were in his time line. Finally he found a faint ki signature not too far from him. With no time to spare Gohan sped off towards the source of the ki.

Krillin floated down and landed next to Gohan. Tien managed to get to his feet and limped over as well, letting Yamcha lean on his shoulder. The androids looked down on them with a mix of amusement and anger.

"Just back off, all of you." 18 commanded.

"It's not like we're going to do anything bad, all we want to do is kill Son Goku." 17 added in. The remaining Z fighters glared at their enemies. Gohan clenched his fists.

"You'll have to go through us first, and we will never let you get to Goku!" Krillin yelled triumphantly. Yamcha shot him a strange look before turning his gaze back to the androids. 17 and 18 glanced at each other and shrugged their shoulders. All the participants of the epic battle powered up as much as they could. Then, without another word said, the fight began.

Krillin fired off a few ki blasts covering for Tien who snuck behind 17 and kicked him in the back. 17 was able to see through this plot though and whipped around and caught the leg, taking a ki blast to the back, but gaining an advantage at the same time. He pulled Tien in and delivered a punch to his face. As Tien flew backwards Yamcha took his place and punched 17 in the gut. As the android recoiled 18 appeared to Yamcha's side and axe handle smashed him into the ground.

Rushing to the others,18 grabbed a hold of Krillin and put him in a full nelson. When Gohan came in to save his friend, but 18 used Krillin as a human shield, she was untouchable. While Gohan tried to move around 18 to get a good shot in at her, she threw Krillin at Tien, who was behind 17, about to strike him from behind. The two bald fighters stumbled backwards and eventually fell to the ground. Yamcha charged his ki up and used every last bit of it to strike at android 17.

"Take this you bastard, Wolf Fang Fist!" Yamcha yelled as his energy took the form of a wolf around his body. His hand was curled into a makeshift wolf claw and he pounced on 17 with lightning speed. He made contact with the android's shoulder and 17 immediately screamed out in pain. His sleeve ripped off as he jerked out of the way of the rest of the attack. Unlucky for him though Yamcha was prepared for that and smashed another one of his fists into 17's face. Finally as the android tried to duck Yamcha went for a finishing blow to his opponent's neck.

His hand never reached their destination though, they froze halfway there and the ki around them dissipated. 18 removed her hand from his shoulder.

* * *

"An eye for and eye, a shoulder for a shoulder, that's how the saying goes, right?" she said snarkily. Yamcha coughed out blood onto the ground beneath him before he fell face first into the red puddle he had just made.

Gohan found Vegeta laying on the ground, he was barely breathing, but he was alive. He had no senzu beans on him and no healing powers like Dende, obviously. There was no way for him to heal Vegeta, no way except for the most tried and trued way to get rid of injuries, time. Luckily Saiyans were nothing if not durable, not a minute after Gohan landed next to him Vegeta coughed a few times and leaned himself up a small bit. His right eye partially opened.

"W-where the hell are they." He spat out. A small smirk crept across Gohan's face, though it caused him a bit of pain. His expression quickly returned to normal as he focused on the situation.

"Shut up Vegeta, you're in no shape to fight them right now." Gohan replied.

"You s-shut the hell up, brat, I'll tell you if I c-can fight or not." The proud Saiyan yelled, though he couldn't get very loud.

"It's just like old times, haha!" The half Saiyan of the future said under his breath.

"Would you two stop arguing and do something useful?" Both warriors turned to see Piccolo limping towards them. He was battered and bruised from head to toe but his worst injury was right out in the open. He was missing both of his arms, two bleeding stumps were in the place of what should have been his shoulders.

"Piccolo!" Gohan raced to his former mentor's aid, worried about his well being.

"I can handle it, Gohan." The namekian replied.

"B-but, both of your arms are-" Gohan was cut off mid sentence by the gruff alien.

"You really haven't seen me in a while, have you?" Before Gohan could answer his question Piccolo grunted and yelled in pain as two new arms shot out from their previous socket. Gohan stood in awe before remembering that he had seen the Piccolo of his time do the same trick once or twice. Then he nodded at his old mentor.

"We need to get Vegeta some place that he can heal." Gohan said after a minute. They both looked down at the bloody Saiyan laying on the ground. Being a namekian, Piccolo could heal faster than most humans and Gohan dealt with these kinds of injuries almost once a week for the past decade or so, he could still operate with them. But Vegeta had arguably been beaten the worst of the two, not to mention his pride was broken yet again. He tried once again to get to his feet before Gohan and Piccolo gently lifted him up to a standing position. Vegeta quickly hit them both away from him.

"I can stand on my own!" He shouted before stumbling a little bit. Once he had steadied himself he looked at the other fighters. "So, what happened with the androids? Did you defeat them?"

Gohan and Piccolo exchanged a look with one another. "They beat me just a little bit after they finished with Piccolo. I doubt that the others could handle them. Which means that we need to hurry."

"Gohan, we would be of no use in that fight, at most we would provide them a second or two before the androids beat us again."

* * *

"Well then they are going to get those seconds!" With that Gohan took off into the air. He was going no where near his top speed, his injuries wouldn't allow that, but he was still going faster than any commercial jet could.

The short bald monk went careening into the small structure that was the Son family's house. 18 rushed through the hole she had caused and before Krillin could stop her she blasted the door in and ran through the house.

"Come on out Son Goku! If we kill you now we promise to let your friends live...for a while." She called out as she tore the inside of the house apart.

Outside, 17 held Gohan by his right leg and Yamcha by his long black hair in his other hand. Tien laid beneath his foot. All three were thoroughly beaten, nearly dead. Gohan squirmed about and tried to free himself, but each time he was met with 17 bringing up his free leg and kneeing the boy in the skull. This in turn put more weight on Tien's head each time he did it, causing the former assassin a great deal of pain.

"Would you guys give up already? It's getting really pathetic," 17 said as he kept them all incapacitated, "All we want to do is let you watch us kill your dear friend, that's all. Then we'll let you go free so we can hunt you down later!"

Before anyone could speak up about their disagreement with the android's plan there was an irritated yell coming from the house. Then there was a blast and the roof of the house burst upwards. 18 came flying out, holding Krillin in one hand and the Ox King in the other.

"Damn it! 17, this big oaf was the only one in the house, Goku is not in there." She yelled out. 17's face contorted into one of anger. He threw Gohan, Yamcha and Tien at the house. At the same time 18 dropped her two captives as well in the same area. She floated over to her brother and crossed her arms.

"Well what do we do now? We don't know where he is at." 17 began.

"Don't ask me, I was counting on him being here. It was going to be less work that way." His sister replied angrily.

"Maybe we should start looking in all the places he has an association with. We should start with the Kame House."

"Hell no, let's go to Capsule Corporation, if Goku's not there then Bulma will be for sure."

Gohan listened to the two mechanical siblings argue about where to find his father and how to kill his friends and his blood began to boil. He slowly raised himself to a kneeling position and looked at everyone around him. No one was moving except for his Grandfather, who was sitting on his far left, shaking with fear. These androids were destroying his life. If he didn't do anything, then they would succeed. He only had one shot at this. He pulled his hand up to his head and touched his pointer and middle fingers to his forehead. The androids were still arguing and didn't notice Gohan gathering a dense amount of ki on his fingers. Finally he believed he had as much as he could get. _If future me could do it, then so can I!_

It wasn't quite as much as he wanted it to be, but it would do, all he needed now was aim. He pulled his hand away from his head and extended his thumb, pointing his fingers at the androids.

"Hey, androids, take this!" Gohan yelled. The androids were shocked as they turned to see the boy pointing at them. "Special Beam Pistol!"

A bright yellow beam shot forth from his fingers and another, smaller beam circled around the larger one. They flew right at the androids at an incredible speed. There was the sound of tearing and a scream and Gohan fell backwards, satisfied that his technique had met it's mark.

"Kami DAMNIT!" It was the voice of 17. Gohan strained himself to lean upwards and see what was going on. To his horror both androids were still standing, though 17 had a large rip on his left side, it didn't seem to affect him at all. "Why do you bastards keep on ripping my jacket?! This is my favorite one!"

He was fuming now, gathering ki in both of his hands and floating upwards. "Get out of the way 18, I'm going to blow that little freak to smithereens."

Gohan looked up and saw the android charging his attack. He knew that this was it, that he was done for.

To his side his Grandfather was staring at the energy 17 was charging as well. Back in his day he was not rivaled by many people, in fact he had been an apprentice of the great Master Roshi. He was considered one of the world's strongest for quite some time, being beaten only by old Gohan, Roshi and a select few people. There was a time where he almost got a hold of ki control, but he never managed to master it. Now he was surround by people that had mountainous power, outclassing him by far more than he cared to admit. He had outlived his usefulness as a warrior, he no longer owned a castle or land, all he had now was his family. There was nothing he wouldn't give up to save that family.

"Take this runt; POWER BLITZ!" 17 yelled as he unleashed a huge wave of ki at the half-Saiyan.

_This is it, it's all over. I'm sorry dad._ Gohan relaxed his body and accepted the fact that he was about die. He heard the blast whizzing towards him and a second later he heard the sound of it contacting. Strangely he felt nothing, was this what death felt like? Shaking the thought quickly he strained to open his eyes.

Standing before him about a foot or two was his Grandfather, Standing straight up and his arms flung wide open. He was only silhouetted, the bright light of the blast. When it was over he fell to the ground, motionless.

"No! Grandfather!" Gohan screamed. Then everything went dark and Gohan slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

_Yeah! Lots of fighting in this one! Hope you enjoyed it!_


End file.
